Attorney General speaks to the EU Constitutional Law class
The Attorney General, Mr Paul Gallagher SC, gave a lecture on 19 November 2010 to students in the EU Constitutional Law class on The Evolving Nature of EU Law: An Analysis of Horizontal Direct Effect and other Issues.
He began by explaining the dynamic and sui generis nature of the EU legal order and posed the question of the development of horizontal direct effect of EU norms. After carefully chosen comparative perspectives with various constitutional legal orders (Ireland, India, South Africa, Poland…), he went on to concentrate on the EU legal order and critically analyzed the impact of the doctrine of direct effect on individuals. He reminded of the key features of seminal cases (Van Gend en Loos, Van Duyn, Defrenne…) in this area. He stressed that an in-depth analysis underpinning the statement of principles set out in this established body of case law was missing. This could be regarded indeed as an unsatisfactory justification for the development of horizontal direct effect which has the effect of imposing obligations on individuals within the EU legal order. He then extended the study to the doctrine of indirect effect, and the particular case of directives. He drew interesting parallels with the ECHR legal order concerning the positive obligations imposed on Contracting Parties, and offered insightful comments on relatively recent and controversial cases (Viking, Laval, Mangold…) and the future interpretation and application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
Mr Gallagher is a UCD alumnus (BCL 1975 BA 1978) and also holds an LLM from the University of Cambridge. He is a member of the UCD School of Law Adjunct Faculty.
Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC giving his lecture
