Judicial Activism of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Pluralist Architecture of Global Law

Judicial activism of the CJEU finds its particular expressions in the case-law concerning public international law. The pro-integrationist tendency of the CJEU raised in the literature concerning the Court's role in the process of EU integration, translates into a substantial and an institutional dimension of judicial activism. The substantial articulation of judicial activism in the case-law concerning international law is the Court's emphasis on the autonomy of the EU legal order. The internal perspective is adopted not only for virtuous reasons, but also in defense of particular European interests. The institutional dimension refers to the Court's position within the EU structure of governance. The case-law concerning international law is marked by a close alignment with the European Commission and integration of the EU goals in external relations. Moreover, the pluralist veil can cover the extent to which the Court's decisions concerning international law are influenced by considerations completely internal to the EU