Techreport,
Amending the Preliminary Reference Procedure for the Administrative Judge
SSRN Scholarly Paper, ID 1556264. Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY, (2009)
Abstract
This article analyzes the Report on the Preliminary Reference Procedure prepared by the Association of the Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the EU on 2008. It explores the proposals submitted by the higher national administrative courts, and develops in a critical light the main points of the Report. The article also develops some issues ignored by the Report, such as the difficulties raised by the analysis of technical non-legal questions, the degree of detail in the ECJ’s replies and the problematic application of Community primacy by national administrative authorities. Overall, it will be submitted that any analysis concerning the preliminary reference procedure eventually leads to a debate on the very essence of the judiciary in the EU. Whether the Report contends a particular conception of the judiciary, is a matter that will also be explored.
