National Courts and Community Law

An examination is made of the way in which national courts have reacted to European Community law, in particular to the claim to supremacy over national law contained in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. The discussion begins with a brief account of the Community's supremacy doctrine. This is followed by an analysis of the reaction of national courts to this claim. The focus then shifts from positive law to the normative evaluation of a number of issues central to this topic. The chapter concludes with an overview of the political science literature that has considered the reasons for the reaction of national courts to the claims made by the Community's judicial institutions.