Human Dignity in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Interpretation Before the European Court of Justice
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Human Dignity in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Interpretation Before the European Court of Justice Jackie Jones
Published online: 29 December 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012
Abstract This article argues that the EU Charter’s dignity provisions must be given a specific, expansive European meaning that underpins the importance the EU places on fundamental rights protection as a principle EU value. To this end, the article examines the EU Charter provisions on dignity and critically analyses the case law before the EU Charter had full legal effect and after it did. It finishes with looking at three areas in which the potential for an expansive interpretation of dignity could help bring the EU closer to its people and fully respect and protect dignity: asylum, criminal justice and sexual orientation. Keywords Human dignity EU Charter CJEU Asylum Equality Judicial interpretation
Introduction Two years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’) has become a point of reference commonly used in the development of EU policies… The Commission not only guarantees that its proposals are compatible with the Charter, it also ensures that the Charter is respected when Member States implement EU law.1 In 2004 I argued that the European Court of Justice (CJEU) should take the opportunity to imbue the dignity provisions within the Union Charter of
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EU Commission (2012).
J. Jones (&) Bristol Law School, UWE, Bristol, UK e-mail: [email protected]
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Fundamental Rights (EU Charter)2 with a particular European understanding that brings to the fore the social responsibility of the EU and social rights of individuals and groups, rather than focussing exclusively on the economic union (Jones 2004). At no other time in the EU’s history has this been truer than right now and particularly important in light of the statements above. I say this in the middle of the ‘Euro crises.’ If the EU can spend literally billions propping up financial institutions and governments within the Euro-zone, it can do the same for its citizens. The two are not the same. We have seen a long history of subsidies, bailouts and emphasis on economic aspects of the EU. Some of these have clearly failed. If the EU is to have a future, the rights of its citizens and those who are in its territories must be positively protected and expanded in order for the economic union to have any chance of succeeding. In other words, there is a symbiotic relationship between the two that cannot be ignored. If this is not the case, what is the purpose of ‘an ever closer union’? Whose interests does it serve? The EU Charter is a manifestation of intent and purpose by member states, articulated in the Preamble to the EU Charter to create that ever closer union amongst its people and to ‘strengthen the protection of fundamental rights in the light of changes in society, social progress and scientific and technological developments by mak
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