Supranational law The definition of supranational law

Supranational law

The definition of supranational law • Supranational law is a form of international law, based on the limitation of the rights of sovereign nations between one another. It is distinguished from public international law, because in supranational law, nations explicitly submit their right to make judicial decisions by treaty to a set of common tribunal. The United Nations Security Council and subordinate organizations such as the International Court of Justice are the only globally accepted supranational tribunals.

American supranational law • The Articles of Confederation, formally the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was the first supranational agreement where 13 sovereign states were unified in a common government, which later became the United States of America. The central government proved too weak to manage the growing economy as the sovereign states incurred national debts and independently managed their national currencies without central coordination. The supranational government was terminated and the sovereign states were united into a unified nation by the United States Constitution in 1785.

European Union supranational law • European Union law' was the next example of a supranational legal framework. In the EC, sovereign nations have pooled their authority through a system of courts and political institutions. They have the ability to enforce legal norms against and for member states and citizens, in a way that public international law does not.

The Treaty of Lisbon • • The Community has by treaty delegated their sovereign authority and jurisdiction. These treaty rights apply to individuals. The Treaty of Lisbon is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which comprise the constitutional basis of the European Union that entered into force on 1 December 2009. It solidified human rights for individuals in all but three members. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union interpreted by the European Court of Justice does not to apply fully to the United Kingdom, Poland, and the Czech Republic by the British Protocol.

European Union law • European Union law (historically called "European Community law") is a body of treaties and legislation, such as Regulations and Directives, which have direct effect or indirect effect on the laws of European Union member states. The three sources of European Union law are primary law, secondary law and supplementary law. The main sources of primary law are the Treaties establishing the European Union. Secondary sources include regulations and directives which are based on the Treaties. The legislature of the European Union is principally composed of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which under the Treaties may establish secondary law to pursue the objective set out in the Treaties.

Constitutional law • There are three sources of European Union law: primary law, secondary law and supplementary law. The main sources of primary law are the Treaties establishing the European Union (TEU). Secondary sources are legal instruments based on the Treaties as well as unilateral secondary law and conventions and agreements. Supplementary sources are laws which are not provided for by the TEU, including case law by the Court of Justice of the European Union, international law and general principles of European Union law

Legislatures • The legislature of the European Union is principally composed of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union treaties allow for the adoption of legislation and other legal acts so as to allow the EU to pursue the objective set out in the treaties. These are secondary European Union law. The treaties have not established any single body as a legislature. Instead legislative power is spread out among the Institutions of the European Union, although the principal actors are the Council of the European Union (or Council of Ministers), the European Parliament and the European Commission.

European Court of Justice • The Court of Justice of the European Union is established through article 19 of the Maastricht Treaty and includes the Court of Justice, the General Court and specialised courts. Its duty is to "ensure that in the interpretation and application of the Treaties the law is observed". The Court of Justice consists of one judge from each European Union member state, and the General Court includes at least one judge from each member state. Judges are appointed for a renewable six-year term. It is the role of the Court of Justice to rule, in accordance with the Treaties, on cases brought by a member state, a European Union institution or a legal person.

Conflict of laws • European Union law is applied by the courts of member states and where the laws of member states provide for lesser rights than European Union law, European Union law can be enforced by the courts of member states. In case of European Union law which should have been transposed into the laws of member states, such as Directives, the European Commission can take proceedings against the member state under the EC Treaty. The Court of Justice of the European Union is the highest court able to interpret European Union law which can be directly enforced by courts in member states is said to have direct effect.

Effect of EU law • The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the provisions of then EEC treaty were capable of having direct effect before the national courts of EEC member states. The result was to create an alternative manner of enforcing the obligations undertook by member states in the treaties, to the more traditional method of state enforcement in the form of enforcement actions taken by the European Commission at a supranational level. Individuals could now use national courts to invoke EU treaty provisions against member state governments. The pre-conditions for direct effect are that the provisions on which an individual wishes to rely are sufficiently clear and unconditional, and that there is no scope for member states to exercise discretion in implementation.

General principles • The principles of European Union law are rules of law which have been developed by the European Court of Justice that constitute unwritten rules which are not expressly provided for in the treaties but which affect how European Union law is interpreted and applies. In formulating these principles, the courts have drawn on a variety of sources, including: public international law and legal doctrines and principles present in the legal systems of European Union member states and in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Accepted general principles of European Union Law include fundamental rights (see human rights), proportionality, legal certainty, equality before the law and subsidiarity.

Competition law • EU Competition law has its origins in the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) agreement between France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany in 1951 following the second World War. The agreement aimed to prevent Germany from re-establishing dominance in the production of coal and steel as it was felt that this dominance had contributed to the outbreak of the war. Article 65 of the agreement banned cartels and article 66 made provisions for concentrations, or mergers, and the abuse of a dominant position by companies. This was the first time that competition law principles were included in a plurilateral regional agreement and established the trans-European model of competition law.

The East African Community • The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation comprising five countries in East Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of the Republic of Burundi, is the EAC's current Chairman. The organisation was originally founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was officially revived on July 7, 2000. In 2008, after negotiations with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the EAC agreed to an expanded free trade area including the member states of all three. The EAC is an integral part of the African Economic Community.