Networking the Rule of Law: How Change Agents Reshape Judicial Governance in the EU

Judicial networks have proved effective in influencing recent judicial policies enacted by both old and new EU member states. However, this influence has not been standard. This volume seeks to improve our understanding of how networks function, as well as the extent they matter in the governance of a constitutional democracy. The authors examine the judicial function of networks, the way they cross the legal and territorial borders that confine the jurisdiction of the domestic institutions, and whether or not they are independent of the capacity and the leadership of their members. A highly salient issue in contemporary law and politics, judicial networks are now qualified actors of governance. With the aim to understand how, to what extent, and with what consequences networks interact with hierarchical institutions that still exist within the States, this book is essential reading for legal experts, policy makers engaged in promoting the rule of law, members of the judicial networks in the EU and extra EU countries, as well as academics and students.

Contents: Introduction: actors, networking, and rule of law: a new puzzle; Rule of law between states and networks; Judicial networks and their instruments; The role of the Venice Commission in two RoL reversal cases: Hungary and Romania; The cross-fertilization of judicial training models; Transnational standards of quality of justice, domestic judicial reforms; Conclusion: networked rule of law: explaining and assessing the rule of law in action; Bibliography; Index.