After coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon it is acknowledged that better control and respect of the principle of subsidiarity is one of the most important and innovative goals of the Treaty. To achieve this goal, the Treaty introduces a mechanism which, apart from checking compliance of draft legislative acts with that principle, may eventually lead to a draft act to be deleted from the legislative agenda of the European Union on grounds of violation of subsidiarity. Within this (...) mechanism, crucial role is attributed to the national parliaments of the Member States. In this article, the reasons for overall inclusion of national parliaments in the European Union (hereinafter EU, the Union) activities are analysed. The role of national parliaments in the EU according to the specific provisions of the EU treaties is also discussed and the largest part of the work is devoted to the ex ante subsidiarity principle control mechanism (the Early Warning System), which gives the right for the national parliaments to influence the EU legislative process. (shrink)

Pasibaigus Šaltajam karui smarkiai išaugęs tarptautinių konfliktų skaičius bei identifikuotos naujos grėsmės paskatino tarptautines organizacijas, tokias kaip Jungtinių Tautų organizacija (toliau – JTO) ir Šiaurės Atlanto sutarties organizacija (toliau – NATO) peržiūrėti Šaltojo karo metu taikytą jėgos panaudojimo praktiką, poreikį ir priemones reaguoti į konfliktus. Tokiomis priemonėmis kaip tik ir tapo vadinamieji „mėlynieji šalmai“, kurie Jungtinių Tautų valstybių narių yra priskiriami Jungtinių Tautų Saugumo Tarybos sankcionuotoms operacijoms vykdyti. Nors priskirtos pajėgos vykdydamos tarptautines operacijas dėvi Jungtinių Tautų simboliką, tačiau jų pavaldumas (...) savo valstybei išlieka visą laiką. Analizuodami valstybių dalyvavimo tarptautinių organizacijų sankcionuotose tarptautinėse operacijose teisinius pagrindus, straipsnio autoriai per jėgos panaudojimo prizmę analizuoja Jungtinių Tautų Saugumo Tarybos ir apskritai tarptautinių organizacijų vaidmenį sankcionuojant jėgos panaudojimą pagal Jungtinių Tautų Chartijos nuostatas bei tarptautinių operacijų vykdymo raidą. Straipsnyje taip pat detaliai apžvelgiami siuntimo į tarptautines operacijas nacionaliniai teisiniai pagrindai ir procedūros bei Lietuvos Respublikos praktika. Šis straipsnis yra skirtas visiems besidominties tarptautinėmis operacijomis ir jų sankcionavimo nacionaliniais ir teisiniais pagrindais. Straipsnio struktūra susideda iš trijų dalių. Pirmojoje šio straipsnio dalyje yra nagrinėjamas jėgos panaudojimas pagal Jungtinių Tautų Chartijos nuostatas, antroje ‒ aptariami dalyvavimo Jungtinių Tautų Organizacijos ir Šiaurės Atlanto Sutarties Organizacijos vadovaujamose tarptautinėse operacijose raida ir teisiniai pagrindai, o paskutinėje dalyje yra nagrinėjamas nacionalinis siuntimo į tarptautines operacijas reglamentavimas. (shrink)

The very idea of the draft European Union (EU) Constitutional Treaty was reexamined after the failed French and Dutch referendums and the Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) was drafted and entered into force on 1 December 2009 after it’s ratification by all 27 member states. The traditional notion of a Constitution as a national legal document establishing the social contract and a moral minimum for a particular socially unified group still prevails in legal and political thinking. (...) Indeed, the European Union has some constitutional elements, but absence of the so called ‘European demos’ prevents us from recognizing the founding treaties as a real ‘European constitution’ in the proper sense of the word. The author agrees with the decision to exclude the term ‘Constitution’ from the title and contents of the new Reform Treaty. The author also suggests that softer terms, like ‘European constitutional order’ and ‘European Constitutionalism’ might better reflect the scope of contemporary European integration than the term of ‘a Constitution for Europe’. A rethinking of the ‘constitutional core’ of the Lisbon Treaty was inspired following the so-called Lisbon judgments of Czech, Latvian and German constitutional courts. (shrink)

The article deals with the concept of the court’s fault in the action for damages against a state suffered due to infringement of European Union law. The author searches for the right position of the criterion in the system of the conditions of state liability and discusses whether European Union law establishes a uniform standard of fault, or at least the guidance on the application of the criterion that would enable uniform national judicial practices concerning state liability for the infringements (...) attributable to the courts of last instance. The article also analyses national legal regulation and jurisprudence of several Member States such as France, Belgium and Italy, providing the definitions of different forms of fault and (or) examples of their practical implementation. (shrink)

This essay deals with conditions, challenges and perspectives concerning the legal system of the European Union after the Lisbon treaty has entered into force. It starts out by recalling constitutional principles such as primacy, direct effect and consistent interpretation of the European legal order on the one hand and the relationship of cooperation between the Court of Justice and national courts – notably pointing out the importance of the preliminary procedure (Article 267 TFEU) – on the other hand. In addition, (...) characteristics of the legal system of the European Union such as the integration of national legal systems are highlighted. It is accentuated that the legal community of the European Union depends on the acceptance by all 27 Member States. Furthermore, the normative quality of European law-making is discussed as well as the necessity for a sufficient democratic legitimation of European Law. As impressively illustrated by the financial crisis, the European Union is much better equipped with possibilities to effectively fulfil regulatory tasks than any Member State. The author shows developments with regard to European Union citizenship, non-discrimination, the Charter of Fundamental Rights - that is now equipped with binding character – and the vertical distribution of competences between the European Union and the Member States, including explanations relating to subsidiarity requirements and their judicial review. Moreover, challenges to the institutions of the European Union are discussed. (shrink)