The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany - Where Does It Stand in the Multi-layer Jurisdictional System in Europe?

Date: 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 4:15pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Lower Level Conference Room, 27 Kirkland Street, Cambridge.

RCC is pleased to announce this event, featuring Prof. Dr Doris König, Justice of the Second Senate, Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. The talk is organized by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard.

Doris König, Justice of the Second Senate of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), will discuss the challenges the country’s highest court navigates within the European Union’s legal landscape. In its role as the “guardian of the constitution” and interpreter of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), the court has been balancing its responsibilities to Germany’s citizens with the European Union’s mission to protect fundamental and human rights across Europe. As the FCC addresses challenges to its jurisdiction, it has needed to reach compromises with or, at times, waived its rights to legal entities such as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxemburg and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strassburg. In highlighting examples, König will address key questions: What does being part of a jurisdictional triangle mean for the competences of national constitutional courts in Europe? Will they lose their important role in the protection of fundamental rights?

Sponsor(s): Harvard European Law Association; CES Special Events; CES Study Group in EU Law and Government; Jean Monnet ad personam Chair in European Union Law and Government.

Contact: Roumiana I. Theunissen