The constitutional jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice is a Essay

The constitutional jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice is a paradigm of judicial Activism. Discuss in relation to Art. 234 EC - Essay Example , the judicial activism of the European Court of Justice has been one of the most intriguing aspects of the evolving legal and judicial framework in Europe, because it â€Å"appoints the European Court as meeting place between the legal order of the Community and those of its member states.†3 It has in fact, represented the driving force of European integration through the fashioning of a constitutional framework for a federal type of structure within the European Union.4 The legislative process within the European Union has often been characterized by inertia, as a result of which the ECJ has had to exercise judicial creativity, to address the gap between voter wishes and political decisions which is not well defined in the European Community as it is in a democracy.5 In the context of Article 234 of the EC Treaty that places the European Court of Justice in the role of interpreter of the aims and objectives of the Treaty, creative European jurisprudence has often required that the ECJ not send away an individual litigant or a national Judge without an answer, in order to avoid denial of justice. As a result, this has often required creative judicial interpretation that has caused it to be accused of judicial activism.6 The Court has adopted the teleological method in its approach to judicial interpretation, wherein a rule is interpreted by taking into account the purpose of the rule and the aim and objective it seeks to accomplish, as stated in the case of CIFLIT, â€Å"every provision of Community law must be placed in its context and interpreted in the light of the provisions of E.C. law as a whole, regard being had to the objectives thereof and to its state of evolution at the date on which the provision in question is to be applied.†7 The factor that will determine when judicial activity strays into the field of judicial activism is determined by the extent to which the judicial function strays into the political realm. The European Court of Justice has