Dissertation Research: The European Court of Justice & National Courts: Strategic Interaction and the Creation of a Supranational Entity

该项目研究与欧洲法院（ECJ）有关的战略行为。战略行为的三个机会将被调查：由国家法院，法院判决，国家法院/诉讼当事人遵守欧洲法院的决定案件转介。 这里要研究的研究假设是，国家法院和欧洲法院都是战略行为者，其主要目标是保持和增加合法性，同时参与法律的判例的发展。根据这些目标，在调查过程中，法院将以下列方式操纵制度约束：国家法院在提交给欧洲法院的案件中框定问题，欧洲法院压制或扩大问题，国家法院和诉讼当事人实践（不）遵守。这些参与者在一个战略性的“transsemantic”游戏中互动，这个游戏从国家层面开始，超越了这个法律的边界，进入了欧洲。为了验证这些假设，研究调查了欧洲法院在以下法律领域的前三名国家法院系统的所有案件：货物自由流动，工人自由流动和社会政策中的平等待遇案件。 最后，创建一个比较的基础上，研究检查的问题流动性假说与数据从美国最高法院在两个时期，不同程度的备审案件控制法院（1865年至1891年和1988年至1992年）。

This project examines strategic behavior in relation to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Three opportunities for strategic behavior will be investigated: referral of cases by national courts, court decisions, and national court/litigant compliance with ECJ decisions. The research hypothesis to be investigated here is that both national courts and the ECJ are strategic actors, the main goals of which are to retain and increase legitimacy while at the same time to participate in the development of legal jurisprudence. In light of these goals, within the process under investigation, courts will manipulate institutional constraints in the following manner: national courts frame issues in cases sent to the ECJ, the European Court suppresses or expands issues, and national courts and litigants practice (non)compliance. These players interact in a strategic "transsemantic" game that begins at the national level and transcends this legal boundary to the European one. To test these hypotheses, the research investigates all cases brought before the ECJ for the top three referring national court systems in the following areas of law: free movement of goods, free movement of workers, and equal treatment cases within social policy. Finally, to create a basis for comparison, the research examines the issue-fluidity hypothesis with data from the U.S. Supreme Court during two periods which differ in their degree of docket control available to the Court (1865-1891 and 1988-1992).