W poszukiwaniu remedium na bezradność jednostki wobec unikania przez sądy krajowe pytań prejudycjalnych do TSUE – stanowisko ETPCz i sądów konstytucyjnych państw członkowskich

Abstract

Preliminary reference to the CJEU is one of the most important achievements of the EU law. In the multicentric legal system it becomes a kind of guarantee to ensure a uniform interpretation of the EU law by courts of the Member States. However, not only is preliminary ruling an aid for judges, who adjudicate cases connected with EU law, but also it might create a possibility for individuals to have their EU rights protected. Unfortunately, EU law does not predict any effective measure, which would protect individual, when a court of the Member State unlawfully refuses to make a preliminary reference. An interesting phenomenon is an attempt to fill this gap by the European Court of Human Rights and constitutional courts of the Member States (especially the German Federal Constitutional Court) in recent years. In their case law, refusing to make a preliminary reference by courts, which are obligated to do that, was qualified as a violation of the right to a fair trial (ECHR) or the right to a lawful judge (constitutional courts). The aim of this article is to consider hitherto situation and to discuss it from the perspective of Polish law.