Subject matter specialization of European union jurisdiction in the preliminary rulings procedure

Abstract

Over the years, judgments by the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) have been-sometimes heavily-criticized. While the recent reforms to the EU's judicial system have addressed the high caseload of the General Court of the European Union (“GC”), the perceived lack of quality of the ECJ's judgments in preliminary rulings procedures remains an issue. This Article will outline in what way these judgments are criticized and try to examine the root causes of the criticism. It goes on to argue that subject matter specialization is an adequate answer to this criticism and examines how subject matter specialization can be introduced into the European Union (“EU”) judicial system.