At a time when established understandings, systems and norms governing everything down to the most basic modalities of respect are facing existential threats that most Europeans have not personally witnessed in their own lifetimes, Werner Schroeder’s work on the meaning and enforcement of the rule of law could not have come at a more important moment.
Strengthening the Rule of Law in Europe — From a Common Concept to Mechanisms of Protection was the subject of a special presentation last Thursday evening at the Residence of the Austrian Ambassador with an introduction by Mr Schroeder himself, joined by Judge Allan Rosas, of the European Court of Justice, Gregor Schusterschitz, Austrian Ambassador to Luxembourg, and Frank Engel, MEP.
The rule of law is one of those nebulous, ever-shifting concepts that might be difficult for the layman to pin down or define, but is as essential to democratic functioning as oxygen is to the human body. It could be described as an amalgam of more precisely defined concepts, such as legality, separation of powers and access to justice, which are however themselves open to differing interpretations across the members states of the EU. The risk is that such opacity makes it ever harder to safeguard.
With contributions from renowned academics, high-ranking professionals and experts in the fields of European, public international and constitutional law, the book aims to shed light on the principal elements of a common European rule of law in a global context and explores mechanisms and instruments to safeguard it and address future rule of law crises in Member States.
Mr Schroeder was prompted to create the book at a time when Member States Hungary and Poland were attracting a lot of attention for what were considered to be serious derogations from basic principles of the rule of law. At the time, the European Commission’s response highlighted weaknesses in the effectiveness of current mechanisms for pushing countries back into line.
Now, on publication, the rule of law, which might be considered the thread that holds the fabric of democracy together, faces even deeper and wider threats from rising populist movements across the EU and their seeming disregard for the norms and democratic safeguards that have taken centuries to construct.
The panel cited, for instance, the response of the British press against the Supreme Court judges who decided that the decision to trigger Brexit should go to a Parliamentary vote. “Enemies of the people" thundered the Daily Mail, a sentiment taken up by other British publications, and echoed now in the United States of America by the newly elected president, Donald Trump, against the judges who refused to uphold his ban on immigration from seven Middle-Eastern countries.
Indeed, on the same day as the presentation, President Trump’s lawyers were representing in seriousness that the President could do what he wanted on national security matters and that the courts had no authority to step in, a divergence from the principle of separation of powers as most would understand it.
Moreover, the new admiration expressed by many Europeans for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, raised real concerns as to whether parties such as Front National in France would seek to impose a similar system of government as exists in Russia. A robust rule of law is democracy's most vital defence.
We are all affected by the rule of law, at all times. “This is a book for everybody,” said Mr Schroeder in his introductory remarks, and in fact, while the subject matter might seem dry, the book is accessible even to the layman who is interest. Dense blocks of legalese are minimal and the historical evolution of things we have come to take for granted are clearly laid out.
As Ambassador Schusterschitz noted, rule of law is one of those things like true love: you don’t really know you have it until it’s gone.
Strengthening the Rule of Law -- From a Common Concept to Mechanisms of Implementation, edited by Werner Schroeder, was published by Hart Publishing and is available on Amazon.
Image: Judge Rosas, Werner Schroeder, Ambassador Gregor Schusterschitz, Frank Engel MEP give their thoughts on the rule of law and its meaning. Photo supplied
