Charter of Fundamental Rights Marks Coming of Age for EU As a Essay

Charter of Fundamental Rights Marks Coming of Age for EU As a Political Community - Essay Example But EU is a work in progress and, having been done with the tasks of border control and economic integration, it is time to move on to the more difficult areas, which assume social and political dimensions. These include home affairs, immigration, defense - and human rights. European states are regularly mentioned in the annual report of Amnesty International for human rights violations, although there is supposed to be a European Convention on Human Rights that regulates and controls these unwanted activities. This area of concern was the focus of attention at the EU Summit in June 1999, in which it was later decided that a new, more enforceable regional law on human rights is necessary to cap the Union's transformation from an economic organization to a political entity. When the EU members were collectively known as the Little Europe, the focus of attention were coal and steel and, later, the Common Market. This contributed immensely to the region's economic stability into the 1960s. As Menendez (2001) observed: "The Coal and Steel Community was a modest step but one that provided reassurance to economic actors and thus established the foundations for sustained economic recovery. There is thus a basis to argue that European integration contributed indirectly to the extensive protection of socio-economic rights within welfare states." That EU was more That EU was more preoccupied with socio-economic than political concerns at the start may be gleaned from the text of the original treaties establishing the European communities, which made only passing references to fundamental rights. This can be found only in the EC Treaty, specifically its Preamble, which acknowledges the organization's commitment "to preserve and strengthen peace and liberty." Article 119 of the Treaty also sets the principle of equal pay for equal work for men and women. . Even the subsequent Paris and Rome Treaties gave the same passing attention to fundamental rights and instead concentrated on integration and how to deal with economic issues. By thus omitting to articulate the tenets of fundamental rights, EC appeared to be emphasizing the nature of the organization. The limited reference to rights in the primary law of the Communities seems to be a fact beyond dispute. However, this should not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the then Little Europe was not about "rights." As Menendez (2001) saw it, rights remained one of the main goals of the project, if not the main one. On the drive for integration, for example, the actual path set for European integration implied an option for a different strategy of ensuring the protection of human rights. The preconditions for the protection of civic, social and political rights in Europe were established based on the region's unique historical and socio-economic context. This came about after the European Court of Justice reconsidered its earlier position that the basic rights and freedoms in EU member states ought to be protected by national constitutions. In 1969 Stauderl (19), the ECJ cited the general though unwritten principle of fundamental rights protection as a basic foundation of Community law. This shift in EU jurisprudence was further articulated in Internationale (20), when the Court restated that

Assess the hierarchical structure of the court system in England and Essay - 5

Assess the hierarchical structure of the court system in England and Wales. To what extent does the common law doctrine of binding precedent engage with this structure - Essay Example Chadwick (2011) asserts that English legal system is found in common law that among other factors advocates for an organised court system. Courts in England and Wales observe a rigid hierarchy as a consequence of hierarchy of judicial precedents. An important function of the English courts is operating two distinct systems of justice namely the criminal and the civil justice system (Chadwick, 2011). There exists a fundamental distinction between the two systems of justice. The criminal justice system concerns with enforcing criminal law in criminal courts employing its unique criminal procedures. Criminal law is known as the law of the state and falls under public law. Criminal law is meant to protect the public by prohibiting specific forms of conduct and punishing the offenders (Chadwick, 2011). Cases that have a criminal element are heard first in the crown court or the magistrates’ court. The civil justice system is designed to handle matters that are civil in nature in ci vil courts. Civil law is the law among individuals that are essentially private law. Civil cases are principally tackled in the high court and county courts. The size and complexity of a particular matter determine where the matter will be heard. Gillespie (2013) observes that courts in England and Wales adhere to a specific hierarchical order. On the top most of the hierarchy is the supreme court of the United Kingdom. This is a modern supreme court established by constitution reform act of 2005, and it replaced the House of Lords. It is constituted by 12 professional judges appointed by members of the House of Lords (Gillespie, 2013). The court is the highest appellant court and court of the last resort in all matters under the English law, Wales’s law as well as Northern Irish law. The court bears authority over criminal cases in Scotland. In addition, the court has jurisdiction over appeals from the