The Solange II decision was a 1986 ruling of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court holding that, so long as the European Communities, in particular through the case law of the European Court of Justice, generally ensured effective protection of fundamental rights substantially comparable to that guaranteed by Germany's own Constitution, the Constitutional Court would no longer review European Community legislation against the standard of German fundamental rights. It reversed the conditional stance the same court had taken in its 1974 Solange I decision, which had reserved the power to conduct such review because Community level protection of fundamental rights was not yet considered adequate. Solange II became a foundational precedent for how national constitutional courts across Europe manage the relationship between domestic rights protection and an integrating legal order.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingThe Federal Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional complaint, holding that so long as the European Communities and the European Court of Justice generally ensure protection of fundamental rights substantially similar to that guaranteed by the German Basic Law, the Federal Constitutional Court will no longer review European Community legislation against the standard of the rights contained in the Basic Law. 1 Current StatusNot overruled. The Federal Constitutional Court accepted the judgment of the European Court of Justice as binding and final in Germany, suspending its own review of EU law so long as EU institutions continue to guarantee fundamental rights protection substantially equivalent to the German Basic Law. 1 Case Status
Case Status (category)Overruled (in whole or part) 1 Case Status (category) Connections
Decided By
Decided by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, 1986.
In Legal System
A ruling under German constitutional law.
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Solange II (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia- Infobox citation line
Judgment section, block quotation
the case law of the European Court, generally ensure an effective protection of fundamental rights as against the sovereign powers of the Communities which is to be regarded as substantially similar to the protection of fundamental rights required unconditionally by the Constitution
Significance section, first sentence
In contrast to the earlier Solange I decision, the Federal Constitutional Court accepted the judgment of the ECJ as binding and final in Germany.
In Group: European Union Law and European Human Rights Court Cases, Introduction, sentence 1
Re Wünsche Handelsgesellschaft (22 October 1986) BVerfGE 73, 339, is a German constitutional law and EU law case, concerning the conflict of law between the German national legal system and European Union law.
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