Why do courts of precedent reference third-parties’ legal arguments in their judgments?
We argue that references to third-party briefs allow courts to expand on the precedent they set in their judgments, clarifying what the law is and what it is not, as well as strengthening the legitimacy of their decisions. Citing briefs negatively may also increase compliance pressure on recalcitrant societal actors. Drawing on original data from preliminary rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union, we show that the Court is more likely to dismiss member states’ arguments when legal uncertainty is high and when the Court faces serious concerns about the direction of its case law.
Johan Lindholm is Professor of Law at Umeå University. During the seminar he will be presenting an article authored together with Daniel Naurin (UiO) and Philipp Schroeder (LMU).
Location: Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law (SCCL), Universitetsvägen 10 C, Library building, 6th floor. Coffee and sandwiches will be served to registered participants. Please register latest on February 17th.
Welcome!
Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt and Björn Lundqvist