Anakina T. Judicial Precedent in the European Union Law

The dissertation is dedicated to a complex investigation of legal nature of judicial precedent in the European Union Law. The author makes a comparative study of the case law as a source of law in national legal systems of the European Union member states, its role in the International Law and European Union Law. It is argued that the precedents of the European Union courts (mostly Court of Justice) play an integrative function – they form and develop the legal order of the European Union/European Community. The author determines main features of judicial precedent, ways of case law revision and its temporal effect. A deep focus is made on legal mechanisms of the case law application in national legal orders. Protection of fundamental rights by the European Union courts and the European Court of Human Rights and possible controversy of their case law is also analyzed. The author proposes ways of avoidance of such collisions.