General principles of European Community law

Book abstract:

This title in the series 'European Monographs' deals with the general principles of European Community law which play a very important role in legal practice, not the least when used as instruments for the protection of individuals and firms against the too far-reaching measures taken by the European institutions or Member States.

'General Principles of European Community Law' attempts to clarify what is a general principle as opposed to a normal legal rule. It also seeks to enhance the understanding of these general principles which can be categorised into three groups: principles of international law applied within Community law; principles specifically developed to fit the needs and purposes of Community law; and principles common to the law of the Member States which have been accepted by the European courts as principles of Community law.

The book is based on a selection of papers presented at a Conference in Malmö, Sweden which was organised by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies in co-operation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Lund in 1999. The fundamental purpose of the Conference was to analyse the general principles and their scope in the EU legal order with special emphasis on their role in the creation of a 'jus commune europeaum'. The papers have been rewritten and edited in order to form the basis for the analysis presented in the book which is divide in to five parts. Part one focuses on the general aspects of the principles of Community law while part two examines human rights as general principles of law. The institutional nature of certain general principles is discussed in part three while part four focuses on some individual principles and legal systems. The final part looks at the potential role of general principles in Community law in the future.

Ulf Bernitz, the editor, is Chairman of the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies and professor of European law at Stockholm university. His co-editor, Dr. Joachim Nergelius is associate professor of constitutional law at the University of Lund.