Academic Year
Coursework Title:
Individual Presentation
Important: Students who have attempted Question 1 in the January Individual Presentation must choose Question 2 below. Students who have attempted Question 2 in the January Individual Presentation must choose Question 1 below. Students who have not attempted the January Individual Presentation can choose either Question 1 or Question 2.
PRESENTATION TOPICS
Students are required to give an 8-minute presentation on one of the two topics identified below. Students will have a lecture on presentation skills as part of this module.
The questions below are purposefully open and could potentially cover a large number of materials. Students will need to be discriminating in terms of content and structure to ensure that they give an appropriately detailed and critically informed answer.
Question 1: Supremacy of EU Law
‘Constitutional pluralism is no longer the theory that best describes the reality of incompatible claims of final authority by the CJEU and national constitutional courts and the mitigation of such claims through judicial dialogue. The new reality is that direct judicial conflicts rather than judicial dialogue are increasing. These conflicts have heralded the death of constitutional pluralism.’
Critically discuss this statement using CJEU case law, case law from national courts and academic literature.
OR
Question 2: Law-making powers and limits
‘The CJEU’s substance-oriented review of the limits of art. 114 TFEU and the principle of subsidiarity has failed. To address concerns of the Member States as to ‘competence creep’, the CJEU should focus solely on assessing the adequacy of the justificatory arguments provided by the EU institutions for legislative action (process-oriented review) both in terms of proof that harmonisation of laws is necessary for the functioning of the internal market and in terms of proof that the subsidiarity principle is not infringed.’
Critically discuss this statement using CJEU case law and academic literature.
Rationale of the Assessment
The aim of this assessment is to provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to research and present on an area of European Union Law. The aim is to measure your knowledge and critical understanding of European Union Law. This will be assessed through your ability to analyse, synthesize, evaluate, and criticise case law and academic literature.
Structure and Weighting of the Assessment
50% weighting of your total mark for the European Union Law module.
Module Learning Outcomes Assessed:
1. Know and understand the concepts and principles associated with the constitutional and institutional law of the EU
2. Evaluate the relationship between the European Court of Justice and the domestic courts in the operation of the EU legal order.
3. Demonstrate the ability to undertake advanced research of a legal issue.
4. Assess critically the efficiency and effectiveness of EU constitutional and institutional law.
