Il rinvio pregiudiziale e l’indipendenza dei giudici: alcune riflessioni a margine di due recenti vicende

Abstract

This essay focuses on the use of preliminary reference to the European Court of Justice pursuant to art. 267 TFEU in order to protect the independence and autonomy of National judiciaries, in particular within Member States such as Hungary and Poland. In the first part, the author looks at two specific cases in which the possibility for national judges to refer to the Court of Justice was limited by the action of the two illiberal governments. Secondly, also in relation to the decisions of the Brussels Court on the subject, the analysis focuses on the need to protect the preliminary reference in the context of judicial cooperation and on the role of European institutions, in particular the Commission, in doing so.