Is it Good Law? Network Analysis and the CJEU’s Internal Market Jurisprudence

Abstract

An increasing number of legal scholars have been attracted to using network analysis, particularly by the possibility of conducting large-scale studies of case law. In this article, we discuss how network analysis can provide new and important information about the law governing the European Union’s internal market by making possible the study of the entire jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), including changes over time. We apply different network centrality measurements to key CJEU internal market decisions and compare how accurately they capture the precedential and persuasive power of case law. In so doing, we reach conclusions that can be used to better understand not only the law of the internal market, but also the law of any case law-driven jurisdiction such as WTO dispute settlement or investor–state arbitration.