This article first appeared in a shortened form as a blog for the London-based think-tank UK in a Changing Europe on 15 July 2021. It was published shortly afterwards as it appears here for the think-tank Fide Fundacion. It is time for supreme courts to follow the lead of the German Constitutional Court, and join in public debate when their judgments hit the headlines. The same goes for the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It is part of the job of these courts to make the law as well as to interpret it, but the challenge is to legitimise this role in democratic societies. Transparency works for central banks, and it could work for supreme courts too. Transparency is a better form of accountability than excessive involvement of politicians in the selection of judges.
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Supreme courts should join in public debate…
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This article first appeared in a shortened form as a blog for the London-based think-tank UK in a Changing Europe on 15 July 2021. It was published shortly afterwards as it appears here for the think-tank Fide Fundacion. It is time for supreme courts to follow the lead of the German Constitutional Court, and join in public debate when their judgments hit the headlines. The same goes for the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It is part of the job of these courts to make the law as well as to interpret it, but the challenge is to legitimise this role in democratic societies. Transparency works for central banks, and it could work for supreme courts too. Transparency is a better form of accountability than excessive involvement of politicians in the selection of judges.