UPORABA IN UINKOVANJE DIREKTIV S PODROJA VARSTVA OKOLJA V UPRAVNIH IN SODNIH POSTOPKIH APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF DIRECTIVES FROM THE SPHERE OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The article discusses the principles of direct effect, direct applicability and consistent interpretation, applied for EU directives on environmental protection. It further analyses why it is necessary to apply these principles ex ofcie by state authorities and courts. Environmental protection is mostly regulated with directives which, however, are designed to protect the environment in public interest. This characteristic inuences the understanding of direct effect, since the right of an individual is not in the forefront and hence questions the direct effect's applicability. Still, there is no signicant deviation from general rules on direct effect. Additionally, the author explains that the application of these principles is not only an obligation but often a welcome help as well.
Giving Effect to Public International Law and European Community Law before Domestic Courts. A Comparative Analysis of the Practice of Consistent Interpretation
This paper explores the differences between and the similarities of how domestic courts - mainly the Dutch - apply two distinct forms of non-domestic law: public international law and European Community law. The article focuses on the application of the principle that in both areas dominates practice: the principle that courts should, whenever possible, construe national law in conformity with, respectively, public international law and European Community law. The article systematically compares how courts employ this principle. On the basis of a detailed analysis of the relevant national case law and the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), it is argued that there is no fundamental divide between the application of public international law and EC law (despite the theoretically opposing starting points); differences in application are a matter of degree not of principle. The principle of consistent interpretation proves to be effective and of great practical importance in both areas and further testifies of the similarities in the impact of the two areas on domestic law.
Mandating Identity: Citizenship, Kinship Laws and Plural Nationality in the European Union
For over a century it has been the case that a person exists, at least for legal purposes, only after she has been recognized by the state. As a unique element of this acknowledgement, nationality has also been an essential component of individual identity. Now, under pressure from a variety of directions, the nature of the link between state and individual is changing, with as yet unclear implications and long-term effects. In this original and insightful analysis, Eniko Horvath focuses on three processes of legal evolution in Europe that affect the meaning of membership and individual identity: the increasing salience of supranational culture and rights; kinship; legislation privileging non-nationals with linguistic, cultural, and ethnic ties to a given state; and the emergence of plural nationality as an acceptable (and even welcome) phenomenon.The author's treatment is notable for its informed appreciation of both the content of relevant European and national laws and the ways in which these laws are embedded in particular social and political frameworks. In addition to extending the legal theory on citizenship and nationality, the analysis draws on sociology, social psychology, and political theory to anchor its insights and recommendations. After two in-depth chapters introducing the complexities of the subject matter, three distinct but interwoven chapters show how each of the three processes has unfolded in a given context, offer detailed explanations and suggestions as to why each development has occurred in the manner that it has, and discuss the legal, political, and sociological issues raised by the particular development.A comprehensive reference section with extensive lists of laws, cases, and scholarship concludes the volume. It is likely that this book will come to be recognized as a foundational work in the legal analysis of the concept of cultural identity, and especially its role in setting norms of membership, as that way of seeing the world becomes ever more clearly defined in coming decades. It is sure to be not only studied and cited by academics and legal theorists, but of special value also to policymakers in the areas of nationality and citizenship.