Practice question · Multiple choice
The Court of Justice had already established the primacy of Community law in 1964. Why did it then have to decide Simmenthal in 1978?
Hints
- Ask who is obliged to do what by a bare statement that one order prevails.
- The 1978 judgment is about the ordinary national judge, not about the rank of the norms.
Show the answer
C. Primacy needed an addressee: Simmenthal obliges national courts to disapply conflicting statutes instantly
Why
Because primacy stated as a proposition about norms leaves open who must act on it and when. Simmenthal directs the ordinary national court to give Union law full effect of its own motion, setting aside the conflicting national rule without waiting for the legislature or a constitutional procedure. Without that, primacy is a preference expressed at the level of doctrine.
Practise The European Union Legal Order
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