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Publishers Abstract:
The stability of decisions taken in legal proceedings is at the core of every European legal system following the rule of law, be it in the anglo-saxon meaning of the term or in its continental shape of Etat de droit/Rechtsstaat. This holds already for administrative decisions, but it is even more valid for decisions of courts according to the doctrine of res judicata. The Court consequently ruled that Community law precludes national legislation which excludes State liability, in a general manner, for damage caused to individuals by an infringement of Community law attributable to a court adjudicating at last instance by reason of the fact that the infringement in question results from an interpretation of provisions of law or an assessment of facts or evidence carried out by that court. The only way to preserve the beneficial and necessary effects of the doctrine of res judicata is the careful application of the criteria for manifest infringements of Community law.
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