1. The enduring legitimisation of European integration by reference to peace? : High-level Conference on The Impact of War (in Ukraine) on the EU, 27. 3. - 28. 3. 2023, Verversdijk, European Legal Studies Department of the College of Europe, Bruges.Matej Avbelj, 2023, unpublished invited conference lecture Abstract: Th is chapter has demonstrated that peace has been the main legitimating source of European integration, which has entered the process of legitimisation as a factor of input, throughput and output legitimacy either momentarily (ad hoc) or on a permanent basis. To recall, 70 the input legitimacy consists of values that are set as a precondition for entering the integration process. They typically require certain qualities from the candidate states and their commitment to specific ideals that the integration shall personify. Th e throughput values are the values that guide the EU decision-making process lato sensu . Finally, the output values are the goals and objectives for which the EU has been created and which ought to be maximised to the greatest possible extent. All the symbolic, profoundly normative and value-laden declarations of the EU and its Member States confirm that peace is an enduring input and output legitimating factor of integration. From the very beginning peace has been a self-standing value to which all other values and achievements of the integration have been instrumental. In fact, even the future European federation, intimated in the Schuman declaration, is not a goal in and of itself; rather, it has been advanced as ‘ indispensable to the preservation of peace ’.A state that seeks admission to the EU has to be peace-loving. Peace is considered as just peace, whose content is determined with reference to fundamental values of the EU, which are ‘ part of our soul, part of what defines us today ’. Just peace defined through Article 2 TEU, to only slightly paraphrase the CJEU, makes up the ’very identity of the European Union as a common legal order’. As such, its value is inexhaustible, 75 while its relevance hinges on the real and perceived threat to peace. The war in Ukraine presents more than a credible threat to the internal peace in the EU and it certainly signifies a total absence of peace in external terms, both under its subjective and objective conception. Th e normative relevance of the value of peace in the EU today is at an all-time high and it can be expected, even if for purely utilitarian reasons, that it will provide a significant boost to the process of European integration, in its widening and deepening leg alike. Provided, of course, that Ukraine prevails. In the opposite scenario, not only just peace in the EU, but its very survival, might be at stake. It is for that reason that the strategy of achieving peace in the EU and beyond has undergone a complete transformation from economic, political and legal peace building mechanisms to the more recent explicit investment in the military capacity of the EU and its Member States. Peace continues to remain an enduring source of legitimisation of European integration, but the means of achieving it have been altered beyond imagination.
Published in ReVIS: 26.06.2025; Views: 34; Downloads: 0
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2. Integral Pre-emption of EU Democracy in Economic Crisis under Transnational LawMatej Avbelj, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: This article examines the challenges of transnational law for democracy in the European Union in times of economic crisis. The concept of democracy is fleshed out first. This is followed by a two-pronged study of the internal and external democracy-affecting processes, taken separately as well as jointly, and of their impact on democracy in the European Union. Finally, some normative proposals, embedded in the theory of legal pluralism, to improve the state of European Union democracy in the present unfavourable internal and transnational environment are offered in the conclusion
Keywords: European Union, democracy, economis crisis, transnational law, legal pluralism
Published in ReVIS: 26.06.2025; Views: 31; Downloads: 0
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3. Contextual Analysis of Judicial Governance in SloveniaMatej Avbelj, 2018, original scientific article Abstract: What is a real character of judicial (self)-government in Slovenia? Does it live up to the standards established in a well-ordered society, based on the established rule of law and consolidated democracy? This certainly is an impression that an external critical, but uniformed, observer develops when he or she approaches the legal regulation of judicial (self)-government in Slovenia. This also is an impression that has been perpetuated in academic and professional circles prior and after the enlargement of the EU. The article dispels this myth. It does so by providing a comprehensive assessment of all the bodies and processes involved in the judicial (self)-government in Slovenia. Contrary to the prevalent formalistic legal approach, which dominates the legal scholarship concerned with judicial governance and the courts more generally, the article relies on a socio-legal methodological approach. It therefore situates the system of judicial self-government in the Slovenian socio-political context in order to provide an insight into how the judicial self-government really works and to what an extent it falls short of the normative ideals prescribed by the Slovenian positive law.
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 68; Downloads: 0
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4. The EU and the many faces of legal pluralism toward a coherent or uniform EU legal order?Matej Avbelj, 2006, original scientific article Abstract: In the last decade or so, legal academia has witnessed a literal explosion of discourse of legal pluralism. Far from being an exception here, the field of EU law is at the forefront.1 In this paper we will try to explain briefly what the reasons for this are, and above all what legal pluralism, in its various forms, actually stands for. For this purpose, we will compare the so-called classical conceptions of legal pluralism on the one hand, and legal pluralism as it has emerged in the European Union on the other hand. It will be argued that the classical conceptions of legal pluralism fall short of explaining, and are conceptually different from, the legal pluralism that has been taking root within the EU. Having understood this difference, we will then focus more precisely - and this will constitute the core of the paper - on the European Union and the pluralist challenges that ensue from the uneasy and complex relationships between the legal orders of the Member States and the supranational legal order. The core question in that regard is how to approach the challenges that EU legal pluralism in its various forms and degrees poses for the role that the law is expected to play in the European Union. It will be claimed that the two different responses to this question are: either by preserving EU legal pluralism or by thwarting it, namely, by conceptualising and developing the EU legal order as a coherent or as a uniform legal order. Finally, it will be argued that since each of these two models seems to presume a different image of the European Union, the choice between the two depends on which should better ensure certainty in the allocation of rights and duties that best fits the conception of justice prevailing in the EU.
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 73; Downloads: 0
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5. The conundrum of the Piran Bay : Slovenia v. Croatia - the case of maritime delimitationMatej Avbelj, Jernej Letnar Černič, 2007, original scientific article Abstract: Drawing borders between countries has historically been a very demanding task, often underpinned by deeply-rooted emotions that suppress the argumentative dialogue and reasoning and in too many cases has led to long-term general deterioration of relationships which may devolve into war. As the title suggests, the focal point of this paper will be a legal assessment or a legal prediction of the outcome of the maritime border delimitation dispute between Slovenia and Croatia in the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea, namely in the Piran Bay. The paper will be structured into four parts. In the first part the authors will present the factual context of the dispute, followed by a presentation of the legal arguments that both countries have laid on the table so far. In the third hermeneutical part, these legal arguments will be applied to the factual context assessed in light of valid international law and especially the existing jurisprudence on international juridical and non-juridical bodies, including the practice of other states in similar cases. In the last part the authors will predict the outcome of the case as if they were the arbitrators or the judges of a tribunal to whom the dispute between Slovenia and Croatia will most likely eventually be referred to.
Keywords: arbitraža, mednarodno pravo, morske meje, pomorsko pravo, Slovenija, Hrvaška
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 75; Downloads: 0
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6. Ustavni monizem in krčenje referendumskega odločanja - kritična analiza doktrine zlorabe referendumaMatej Avbelj, 2005, original scientific article Abstract: Namen tega prispevka je opozoriti na pravno-tehnične šibkosti argumentacije slovenskega ustavnega sodišča pri t. i. doktrini zlorabe referenduma. Očitno je ustavno sodišče v preveliki vnemi uresničiti svojo odločbo prekoračilo ustavne okvire sistema delitve oblasti in tako spodkopalo razmerja med ustavnimi akterji v sistemu zavor in ravnovesij. "Policy" analiza namreč pokaže, da se je tehtnica pri tem nagnila preveč v smer vsakokratne parlamentarne večine, ki sedaj lahko laže odstrani ovire na poti do uresničitve svojih političnih interesov. Slednje lahko na dolgi rok, in nekatera znamenja kažejo na to že sedaj, privede do ustavnega monizma, ki je nasprotje ustavnega pluralizma, v katerem raznoliki politični in drugi interesi tekmujejo med seboj po pravilih političnega diskurza, utemeljenega na priznavanju enakih diskusijskih možnosti in na pripravljenosti za sklepanje kompromisov, utemeljenih na načelih solidarnosti in ustavne strpnosti. Vloga instituta referenduma kot pravice veta, oz. zavore za ustvarjanje ravnovesja, je izjemnega pomena, zato ustavno sodišče odločanja o njegovem omejevanju ne bi smelo puščati v rokah političnega diskurza in tekmujočih političnih sil, ampak bi moralo zanj poskrbeti samo v skladu s pravili pravnega diskurza, ki jih narekuje obstoječi slovenski ustavni red.
Keywords: ustavno pravo, referendumi
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 64; Downloads: 0
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7. Questioning EU constitutionalismsMatej Avbelj, 2008, original scientific article Abstract: Since the very conception of the European integration, there has been one core question that has attracted much attention and yet it remains contested and in a way unanswered till present. What is the legal nature of the European integration - a query about what integration stands for (the descriptive dimension), how it is to be explained and construed (the explanatory dimension) and eventually what it should stand for (the normative dimension). With the lapse of time, and as integration has evolved, various legal, political, economical and even broader intellectual streams of mutually shared beliefs, we should call them narratives, have emerged all offering their own and separate visions of what constitutes the most appropriate answer. Among them, however, the constitutional narrative has come out as a sort of master or dominant narrative whose answers have reached and persuaded the widest circle of influential stakeholders with the greatest impact on the social construction of the European integration.
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 67; Downloads: 0
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8. Revisiting flexible integration in times of post-enlargement and the lustration of EU constitutionalismMatej Avbelj, 2008, original scientific article Abstract: With an eye on the changes of immense if not radical proportions that European integration has undergone in the past five years, are there any grounds for revisiting the process of flexible integration and using some of its potentials for the benefit of integration in the future? This is the main question of this article, the purpose of which, in contrast to the bulk of the literature in this field, is not so much to describe or conduct a textual analysis of the flexibility clauses of various treaties, but to understand the deeper or background reasons why flexibility in the EU has developed as it has. The article consists of three parts. The first part traces the historical development of flexible integration. This is followed by a study of the reasons why flexibility has remained on the margins of the integration process. Finally, having examined the EU’s relatively non-flexible past and the reasons for this, the focus moves to its present and future.
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 73; Downloads: 0
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9. Trajni in neusahljivi temelj slovenske državnosti?Matej Avbelj, 2010, original scientific article Abstract: Skorajda dvajset let po razpadu nekdanje skupne države se Slovenija in Hrvaška še vedno nista uspeli dogovoriti niti o natančnem poteku kopenske meje niti o njeni določitvi na morju.(Neuspelih) poskusov je bilo že kar nekaj. Zadnji v vrsti je arbitražni sporazum med Vlado Republike Slovenije in Vlado Republike Hrvaške o določitvi morske in kopenske meje med državama (v nadaljevanju arbitražni sporazum). Tega je slovenska Vlada uspela izpogajati v kontekstu hrvaškega približevanja EU, in sicer po utemeljeni blokadi pristopnih pogajanj, a v odsotnosti soglasja v slovenskem političnem prostoru kakor tudi v strokovnih krogih. Usoda arbitražnega sporazuma, ki ga je Hrvaška že ratificirala, je zato v Sloveniji negotova. 6. junija 2010 bomo o njem odločali državljani na naknadnem zakonodajnem referendumu. Toda arbitražni sporazum je že prestal vsaj eno od postavljenih ovir: oceno ustavnosti pred Ustavnim sodiščem Republike Slovenije. Na predlog Vlade je moralo Ustavno sodišče izreči mnenje, ali je določba člena 3 a arbitražnega sporazuma, ki se glasi, da »Arbitražno sodišče določi potek meje med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrvaško na kopnem in morju,« v skladu z Ustavo. Da bi moglo razsoditi o tem vprašanju, je moralo najprej opredeliti t. i. merili ustavnosodne presoje. Tako je odločilo, da se bo postavljeno vprašanje presojalo glede na skladnost s 4. členom Ustave, v skladu s katerim je Slovenija ozemeljsko enotna in nedeljiva država, ter II. razdelkom Temeljne ustavne listine (v nadaljevanju TUL). Ta določa, da so »Državne meje Republike Slovenije […] mednarodno priznane državne meje dosedanje SFRJ z Republiko Avstrijo, z Republiko Italijo in Republiko Madžarsko v delu, v katerem te države mejijo na Republiko Slovenijo, ter meja med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrvatsko v okviru dosedanje SFRJ«. Potem ko je Ustavno sodišče na opisan način opredelilo merili ustavnosodne presoje, je moralo pred samo izvedbo ustavne presoje razjasniti pravno naravo TUL. Kakšen akt je pravzaprav TUL in v kakšnem odnosu je z Ustavo, da lahko šteje kot upoštevno ustavnosodno merilo? Po mnenju Ustavnega sodišča je Slovenija prav s sprejemom TUL z notranjepravnega vidika postala samostojna in neodvisna država: »TUL je bila sprejeta 25. 6. 1991 kot temeljni konstitutivni državnopravni akt Republike Slovenije [… z namenom] ustavnopravno konstituirati in mednarodnopravno deklarirati novo suvereno državo, ki bo enakopraven subjekt mednarodne skupnosti.« Poleg teh deklaratornih mednarodnopravnih učinkov pa je imela TUL tudi in predvsem notranje konstitutivne pravne učinke: »Ustavnopravni učinek II. razdelka TUL je bil v tem, da je opredelil državne meje in s tem določil ozemlje, na katerem je Republika Slovenija postala samostojna in neodvisna država. […] Določba II. razdelka TUL je tako konstitucionalizirala državne meje Republike Slovenije.« Na tej podlagi je Ustavno sodišče zaključilo, da je »TUL formalno veljaven ustavni akt ter je kot taka trajni in neusahljivi ustavnopravni temelj državnosti Republike Slovenije.« S temi besedami je Ustavno sodišče opredelilo vsebino TUL kot t. i. neodtujljivo epistemično bistvo (irreducible epistemic core) slovenskega ustavnopravnega reda. Tako se je pridružilo drugim nacionalnim ustavnim sodiščem, ki doktrino neodtujljivega epistemičnega bistva (v nadaljevanju doktrina) poznajo že dolgo in jo v zadnjem času razvijajo predvsem v svojem odnosu do Evropske unije. V nadaljevanju prispevka predstavljamo teoretična izhodišča doktrine in ponujamo kratek primerjalnopravni prikaz njene rabe. Vse to pa z enim temeljnim namenom: podati kritično oceno slovenske rabe te doktrine, tako na načelni ravni in še posebej v konkretnem primeru presoje arbitražnega sporazuma.
Keywords: epistemično bistvo, ustavno pravo, ustavno sodišče, arbitražni sporazumi
Published in ReVIS: 24.06.2025; Views: 63; Downloads: 0
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10. Security and the transformation of the EU public orderMatej Avbelj, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the changing character of the European Union (“EU”) public order under the impact of security concerns. The EU public order has long been characterized by a tension between a more market-oriented, neo-liberal Union and a more socio-political Union. The former would be driven by the EU's four fundamental freedoms, whereas the latter would be achieved and safeguarded through the language and practice of fundamental rights. As other scholarly contributions to the issue have demonstrated, the relationship between fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights is anything but settled. It continues to be subject to many, sometimes potent, legal and political controversies. However, while the EU public order is still in pursuit of the right balance between economic freedoms and socio-political rights, it also has to reckon with another fundamental value: The value of security.
Published in ReVIS: 23.06.2025; Views: 33; Downloads: 1
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