The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and its Legal Revolution Revisited

Antonin Cohen (1) , Antoine Vauchez (2)

1 ISP - Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique
2 CESSP - Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique

This review explores the social construction of a European rule of law. It runs counter to most legal and political science scholarship which considers such transnational constitutional order to be the direct outcome of the European Court of Justice's judicial fiat in a couple of revolutionary decisions from the 1960s. Drawing from the theory of fields as well as from the sociology of legal professions, the review suggests an alternative account of this legal revolution as embedded in a complex legal and political struggle over the nature and future of Europe.

Mots clés: Law; Court European

Domaines: Science politique

Antonin Cohen, Antoine Vauchez. The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and its Legal Revolution Revisited. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 2011, 7, pp.417-431. ⟨halshs-00826851⟩