77704 European Union Law

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

Subject handbook information prior to 2017 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Law
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): ( 70616c Australian Constitutional Law OR (70110 Introduction to Law AND (76006c Public International Law OR 70108c Public International Law)))
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Description

This subject deals with the laws and institutions of this supra-national organisation. Topics discussed include the activities of the European institutions; the political and economic origins of the European Union (EU) and its institutional structures (with emphasis on the European Court of Justice (ECJ)); the interrelationship between EU law and the law of the member states; and the free movement of goods. The subject concentrates on the developing constitutional structure of the EU, the jurisprudence of the ECJ and the connections between these two issues and the developing single market.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

1.	To attain a critical understanding of the role and relevance of the institutions of the European Union;
2.	To demonstrate the ability to research at an advanced degree, to analyse and solve problems involved with EU and where relevant, national law;
3.	To be able to critically compare and contrast the protection of economic and social rights provided by the institutions of the EU with other selected national systems;

Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)

This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes:

• Legal Knowledge
  A coherent understanding of fundamental areas of legal knowledge including the Australian legal system, social justice, cultural and international contexts and the principles and values of ethical practice. (1.0)
• Critical Analysis and Evaluation
  A capacity to think critically, strategically and creatively including an ability to identify and articulate legal issues, apply reasoning and research, engage in critical analysis and make reasoned choices. (3.0)
• Research skills
  Well-developed cognitive and practical skills necessary to identify, research, evaluate and synthesise relevant factual, legal and policy issues. (4.0)
• Communication and Collaboration
  Effective and appropriate communication skills including highly effective use of the English language, an ability to inform, analyse, report and persuade using an appropriate medium and message and an ability to respond appropriately. (5.0)
• Self management
  The ability to implement appropriate self-management and lifelong learning strategies including initiating self-directed work and learning, judgment and responsibility, self assessment of skills, personal wellbeing and appropriate use of feedback and, a capacity to adapt to and embrace change. (6.0)

Teaching and learning strategies

Strategy 1 Variety of teaching methods, including seminars and formal lectures.

Strategy 2 Students will be required to read prescribed texts as well as study materials in preparation for the seminars.

Strategy 3 The teaching program will be designed to encourage active participation of students in the teaching process, for example in reporting a case decision of the ECJ and by participating in a moot.

Subject Delivery

The material will be delivered through interactive classes of groups of 40 maximum.

Content (topics)

Session 1: legal competence , legislation and decision-making

Session 2: Supremacy and Direct Effect and state liability in damages

Session 3: Enforcement actions against Member States and Preliminary Rulings

Session 4: EU Remedies in national courts

Session 5: Human Rights protections, Damages Actions and Money claims

Session 6: Review of the legality of EU actions

Session 7: Substantive EU Law: The Single Market and Free Movement of Goods.

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Class participation, including presentation and moots

Objective(s):	This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1 and 3 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0
Weight:	40%

Assessment task 2: Written assignment at the conclusion of the subject

Objective(s):	This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2 and 3 This task contributes specifically to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0
Weight:	60%
Length:	3000 Words

Required texts

The principal textbook for use in this course is P Craig and G de Búrca, EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials (5th ed, Oxford University Press, 2011).

Recommended texts

References: books put on closed reserve

• Craig/de Burca, EU Law; text, cases and materials , 4th ed. 2011 (341.6805 CRAI)
• Craig/de Burca, Evolution of EU Law, 2nd ed. 2011 341.68 CRAG
• Chalmers, et al, European Union Law: text and materials, 2006 (241.6805 CHAM
• Davis, Karen, Understanding European Law, 3rd ed. 2007 (341.68 DAVI)
• Wyatt and Dashwood, European Union Law, 6th ed. 2011 341.68 WYAT
• Tillotson/Foster, Text, cases and materials on EU law, 2003 341.68 TILL
• Horspool, Margot EU Law, 2002 (341.68 HORI)
• Lasok & Lasok, Law and Institutions of the EU, 7th ed. 2001 (341.6805 LASO (ED 7) )
• Barnard, C, The substantive Law of the EU, The four freedoms,2nd ed. Oxford UP 2006 (341.68 BARN)
• Eeckhout, External Relations of the EU, Oxford UP 2004 (327.4 EECK)
• White, RCA Workers, Establishment and Services in the European Union, Oxford Press 2004 (341.6807 WHIT)
• Steiner, J,Woods, Twigg-Flesner, EU Law, Oxford UP, 2006

References

In addition to this there will be references to articles in various journals, which should be available electronically, as well as references to the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the General Court (GC), formerly known as the Court of First Instance (CFI). Case law of the European courts can be found on the Courts’ website:

http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/

This link takes you to a search form where you can enter the case number, e.g. C-408/01, which will take you to the report of the case and the opinion of the Advocate General.

You will also need to refer to the two Treaties which now govern the functioning of the EU. These are the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and the Treaty on European Union. These can be found electronically via this link, as can the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU:

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:SOM:EN:HTML

Unhelpfully and confusingly, the Treaty articles have been renumbered not once but twice over the history of the EU. So, for example, what started out as Art 177 EC, the Treaty article governing preliminary references from national courts to the ECJ, became Art 234 EC following the Treaty of Amsterdam, and has now been renumbered to become Article 267 TFEU. I have tried to make the re-numberings clear on the lists below for all the important treaty articles to which we’ll refer, but the link above also contains a table of equivalences for the Amsterdam and Lisbon numbering and there is a similar table on p cxxxix of Craig and de Búrca.

Should you need to find a piece of ‘secondary’ (i.e. non-Treaty) legislation, such as a directive or regulation, you can use the link below, which again has a search facility into which you can put the reference for the particular piece of legislation in the Official Journal of the EU (where all EU legislation etc is published):

http://europa.eu/publications/official-documents/

You will also find the Europa.eu site has general information about the functioning of the EU which you might find useful

Other resources

Other Materials:
Others found in the catalogue are:

• Emmert, Frank (ed): European Union Law (Cases), C.H.Beck /Kluwer Law Int. 2000
• Emmert, Frank (ed): European Union Law (Documents) C.H.Beck/Kluwer Law Int 1999
• Medhurst, D, A Brief and Practical Guide to EU Law, 3rd ed, London, Blackwell, 2001
• Vranken, Martin, Fundamentals of European Civil Law, Sydney, Federation Press, 1997
• Tridimas, Takis, The General Principles of EC Law, Oxford, OUP, 1999
• Maduro, Miguel, We the Court: the European Court of Justice and the European Economic Constitution: a critical reading of Art 30 of the EC Treaty, Oxford, Hart, 1998
• Ward, A, Judicial Review and the Rights of Private Parties in EC Law, Oxford, OUP, 2000
• Prechal, Sacha, Directives in European Community Law, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1995
• Esteban, Maria, The Rule of Law in the European Constitution, The Hague, Kluwer, 1999
• Bond, M & Feus, K (eds), The Treaty of Nice Explained, London, Federal Trust, 2001
• Griller, Stefan et al., The Treaty of Amsterdam, Vienna, Springer-Verlag, 2000.
• Monar, J & Wessels, W, European Union after the Treaty of Amsterdam, London, 2001.
• O'Keefe, David, Judicial Review in European Union Law Kluwer, The Hague, 2000
• Barnard, C The Fundamentals of EU Law Revisted, Oxford UP, 2007.
• Barnard, C EC Employment Law, 3rd ed, Oxford UP, 2006

Journals

• There are many other books at 341.68 in the UTS Library. The University has a good collection. To obtain relevant articles, students are encouraged to use electronic periodical indexes, for example, Index to Legal Periodicals or the electronic LegalTrac.
• The UTS library has a complete set of Journal of Common Market Studies, 1962+ and has the European Law Review vol 27, 2002+. There is an index volume to this publication that covers vols 1-25. Other libraries in Sydney have complete sets. Always check a journal title on the UTS catalogue because there are now over 600 legal titles held electronically and available for downloading.