Professor and principal researcher of the project “Rule of Law Crisis in the EU”, Susana Sanz Caballero, has published an article in RECoL (Review of European and Comparative Law) on judicial independence in Croatia, which is currently under European scrutiny. The article analyzes the ruling Hann-Invest and Others.
Throughout the article, the first case brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that questions the independence of the judiciary in Croatia is examined. This case is considered unique because it deals with threats to judicial independence originating from within the judiciary itself, which is unusual, as most cases typically involve external pressures from the executive or legislative branches. Additionally, although the judicial practice in question was found to be contrary to EU law, the Court explained to Croatian authorities how they could rectify the situation. Furthermore, the Advocate General’s Conclusions significantly diverged from the Court’s ruling, which, while not entirely uncommon, shows that this was a complex and nuanced case. Finally, the case challenges and ultimately declares unjust a judicial practice that still exists in Croatia, a legacy of the country’s communist past, when judges were subjected to a strict judicial hierarchy at the expense of their individual autonomy.
The article dives deep into the specifics of the Croatian case, comparing the legal reasoning of the Advocate General and that of the Court of Justice, highlighting their differing approaches. It also explores other arguments that were not addressed in the Advocate General’s Conclusions but were, interestingly, included in the Court’s judgment. The Court ultimately ruled that the Croatian practice—where a registrar judge, not involved in the case, could override the decision of the court handling the matter, and where an extended section of the court could force the judges in charge to abandon their legal reasoning before issuing a ruling—was incompatible with Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).
This article was written within the framework of the project PID2021-126765NB-I00, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.
Link to the article: https://czasopisma.kul.pl/index.php/recl/article/view/18198/15963
Professor Susana Sanz had previously published an article on the Hann-Invest et al. ruling in the Revista Española de Derecho Europeo, which was also featured on this blog.
Link to the post: https://blog.uchceu.es/rule-of-law-crisis-eu/en/susana-sanz-reflects-on-the-rule-of-law-in-the-eu-essential-article-and-column/
