The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and Its Legal Revolution Revisited

Antonin Cohen; Antoine Vauchez

doi:10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105503

Annual Review of Law and Social Science

Volume 7, 2011

Review Article

The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and Its Legal Revolution Revisited

Antonin Cohen¹, and Antoine Vauchez²
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Affiliations: ¹CURAPP, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre 92001, France; email: [email protected] ²CESSP, Université Paris 1 Sorbonne, Paris 75005, France; email: [email protected]
Vol. 7:417-431 (Volume publication date December 2011) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105503
First published as a Review in Advance on September 13, 2011
© Annual Reviews

Abstract

This review explores the social construction of a European rule of law. It runs counter to most legal and political science scholarship which considers such transnational constitutional order to be the direct outcome of the European Court of Justice's judicial fiat in a couple of revolutionary decisions from the 1960s. Drawing from the theory of fields as well as from the sociology of legal professions, the review suggests an alternative account of this legal revolution as embedded in a complex legal and political struggle over the nature and future of Europe.

Keyword(s): European Union, judicial power, legal integration, transnational field

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2011-12-01

2024-04-20