| Abstract [eng] |
This master thesis provides analysis of the principle of rule of law according to the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and as auxiliary sources the practice of both the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Court of Human Rights is analysed, as well as findings of scientists. Rule of law – one of the core values on which the European Union is founded. In analysing this master's thesis, the principle of the rule of law is analysed through two of its components: the principle of judicial independence and impartiality, and the principle of legal certainty. The separation of the elements of the rule of law, judicial independence and impartiality, and the principle of legal certainty, analysed in the work is determined by the increased attention to those principles in the recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Breaches of judicial independence and impartiality in Hungary and Poland are widely known in the whole European Union. However, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in recent years shows that other Member States of the European Union also face problems in this area and that the potential threat of rule of law crises may not be limited to only a few Member States. In view of the current crises of the rule of law, and the possibility that this situation may arise in other Member States, the European Union has put in place a mechanism to protect the European Union's financial interests by suspending the provision of European Union funds to countries in breach of the rule of law. As ironic as it may sound, the adoption of such a mechanism has raised doubts as to whether it is itself compatible with the rule of law, a principle from which’s violations the financial interests of the European Union had to be protected. |
