Judge Regan has been Ireland’s judge on the European Court of Justice since 2015. In these past ten years, the Court has issued a number of judgments that stress the value of judicial independence; however, in this podcast, Judge Regan explains how this area is not a novel one for the Court, which has judged on matters relating to judicial independence for over two decades.

Looking to the future of the EU, Judge Regan concludes by considering the challenges and opportunities facing the Court in terms of EU enlargement and in terms of AI and the administration of justice.

Key Takeaways:

• The Court of Justice’s legitimacy derives from the EU Treaties, by which Member States have already agreed to be bound. Thus, the power to interpret and uphold EU law is a mandate given to the Court by the Member States themselves.
• Though the Court works from Luxembourg, it connects with EU citizens across the continent through press releases, streaming important hearings, and writing coherent and understandable judgments in all EU languages.
• EU enlargement will likely mean bringing extra chairs to the table when it comes to welcoming judges from new member states. As the Court has already adjusted its jurisdiction from an original 6 to now 27 member states, this proves the Court can manage to continue its work with an even larger EU.
• Ireland’s strong constitutional tradition and culture of bringing challenges that hold arbitrary use of power to account shows that protecting the rule of law is a two-way process. Courts can only respond to cases first by the public, showing the important role that civic society plays too in upholding the rule of law.