The Limits of the Judiciary within the Eurasian Integration Process
P. 171-183.
Karliuk M.
This article looks into the ability of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to ensure the functioning of the EAEU legal order. It is argued that it will be a hard task for the EAEU Court to ensure the uniform application of EAEU law. This follows from the removal of the preliminary ruling procedure, which has left the Court without a powerful vehicle of interpretation of law and has isolated it from national courts. The new mechanism is rather hypothetical, and the uniform understanding and application of EAEU law by national courts is a major issue now. One can hardly speak of an integrated judiciary in the Eurasian space. Further, member states can more easily get away with violations of the Eurasian legal order, since the Commission can no longer bring them to the Court. This and a number of other limitations regarding the independence of the judges and their interpretative powers leave no assurance that member states will uphold their obligations on an everyday basis. The example of the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Russia shows other obstacles in the way of the Court’s ability to achieve its objective. It must be said that the resulting situation is caused by all the parties, which has led to the deterioration of the whole legal order — a situation which does not particularly benefit any of them. Therefore, solutions to the problem must be found, and it is clear that it must be done not in a confrontational manner, but by engaging in closer cooperation and dialogue.