Seminar on the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ

​The Faculty of Law of the University of Turku organized a seminar on the theme of the legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice on 5 March 2015.

The seminar was chaired by Professor Jukka Snell. It was opened by Dr Gunnar Beck of SOAS. He considered whether the Court is able to act as an impartial arbiter between national and EU interests, focusing in particular on the cases relating to the crisis in the Eurozone. His uncompromising conclusion was that the Court is ‘a political court, not a court of law. And what it certainly is not and never can be, is an impartial arbiter between the Union and national interests. Because it is a judge in its case.’

This was followed by a prepared response by Dr Suvi Sankari of the University of Helsinki, who took issue with some of the views of Dr Beck. A lively and wide-ranging discussion ensued among the participants.

For more information on the event, contact Mr Janne Salminen.