Publisher's Synopsis
This special issue is the result of a conference organized in cooperation with the University of Luxembourg by SIPE on the very notion of the Rechtsstaatlichkeit in Europa / the rule of law in Europe / l'Etat de droit en Europe focusing therein on judicial independence and effective remedies. The contributions reflect various perspectives on the notions of the rule of law in Europe, especially its protection by the hands of courts and tribunals as independent bodies designed to review executive and, in most states, also legis-lative action for their compliance with constitutional principles and values. The contributions all display a broad understanding of notions contained in the rule of law obliging to ensure a separation of powers, an effective judicial protection, principles of a system of democratic government as well as the protection of individual human rights and fundamental freedoms. The rule of law in this understanding goes well beyond an adherence to the principle of legality and reaches also into substantive norms and institu-tional and structural principles of the organisation of the exercise of public powers.The existence and defense of this broad understanding of the rule of law is also deeply embedded in the very existence of the Council of Europe and its Convention on Human Rights.
