Fundamental rights adjudication in the European Union: Exploring the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice

The protection of fundamental rights by the Court of Justice of the EU ("CJEU") is no longer a marginal issue, but is the central legal and political issue of coming years, to which all roads in EU scholarship lead back. The objective of this thesis will be to trace the evolution of the CJEU's jurisprudence, from the application of the general principles to the CJEU's interpretation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in a bid to discern the proficiency of the CJEU's methodology. Along the course of this enquiry, the thesis seeks to explicate judicial developments, rules and techniques governing the CJEUâs review of EU legislative and administrative action, as well as Member State action when executing EU policy objectives and when derogating from EU law obligations, for compliance with fundamental rights. Interlocking themes addressed include: the nature and function of fundamental rights; the enforcement of fundamental rights in the context of the internal market; the horizontal application of fundamental rights; and the elements of interpretation shaping adjudication. Binding these themes together is the scope and method of fundamental rights protection. Eschewing any notion of a grand narrative, it will be shown that the CJEU's case law and method defy being classified as a natural and linear progression from dark to light, or novice to expert judicial control, in that the CJEUâs initial blueprint for resolving fundamental rights cases has been largely unaltered by constitutional developments.