The European Court of Justice in Context: Forms and Patterns of Judicial Dialogue

Abstract

While the feudal system was monist, the nation state system was dualist and characterised by the dichotomies of international law versus national law, public law versus private law, and law versus non-law. Post-industrialised or ‘post-modern’ society implies a more pluralist system, involving globalisation, regionalisation as well as localisation. We are facing a patchwork of authorities instead of just one national government and one legislature. The international and the internal are increasingly intertwined. Especially in EU-law, the distinction between public and private law seems less relevant. The phenomenon of soft law dilutes the barrier between law and non-law.