Interpretive Methods Applied by the CJEU: Theory, Practice, and Tensions Surrounding Judicial Activism
Abstract
This research argues that analyzing the interpretative praxis of the CJEU is essential to understanding the scope of the European legal order. Beyond the principle of primacy and the Court’s relationship with national constitutional courts, the study focuses on how the literal, teleological, systematic, and evolutionary methods operate as engines of integration, consolidating general principles, shaping fundamental rights, and expanding the EU acquis within national legal systems. This hermeneutical approach shifts the focus from institutional conflict to the core of supranational judicial power, allowing inquiry into the CJEU’s potential activism, the reactions of constitutional courts, and the democratic risks it entails, as well as into the legitimacy and limits of its interpretative practice.
Received: 6 October 2025
Accepted: 2 February 2026
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Last update: 08/02/2022
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