'Playing the Judicial Card': Litigation Strategies during the Process of Ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Issue 5 (30th September 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Castillo Ortiz, Pablo José
• Is Part Of: European law journal. Volume 20:Issue 5(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 630
• Page End: 648
• Publication Date: 2013-09-30
• Subjects: Law -- European Union countries -- Periodicals; European Union countries -- Social policy -- Periodicals; European Union countries -- Economic policy -- Periodicals; European Union countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 344
• DOI: 10.1111/eulj.12073
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-5993

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>During the process of ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, a number of constitutional jurisdictions were activated by political actors. In playing 'the judicial card', opponents of ratification decided to seek political goals through judicial means, and thus they were obliged to develop litigation strategies. This article explores such strategies and the responses that courts gave them. It shows that constitutional proceedings with regards to the Lisbon Treaty became a political battleground governed by legal logics, in which the interpretation of European clauses, the democratic deficit of the Union and the tensions underlying the European judicial dialogue were privileged objects of discussion between claimants and courts in which law and politics intertwined.</p> </abstract>