“This book is not a legal text but covers legal topics. It is intended for anyone in the contemporary world who is interested in the subject matter, whether they are lawyers or not. It is abundantly seasoned with personal recollections and anecdotes, providing one-of-a-kind insights into the actual functioning of European courts.
It is commonly understood that a judge’s role and responsibilities require them to maintain their impartiality at all times. Despite this, European judges are occasionally confronted with challenges in this area. Their judicial independence is put at risk when they are nominated by a government, when their terms of appointment are limited and when they face the possibility of either being reappointed or not being reappointed. Certain governments have a history of selecting candidates they believe they can keep under control to fill the political office. When something like this occurs, there is a possibility that private parties will be disadvantaged.
Since the EEA/EFTA states Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway essentially constitute a pond with one big fish (Norway) and two minnows, the EFTA Court is under even more pressure as a result. Certain key figures in Norwegian politics have been pushing for quite some time to make the European Economic Area (EEA) into a bilateral agreement with the European Union (EU). This attitude has resulted in political repercussions, some of which have even affected the author personally.
In addition, the fact that the EFTA Court is housed within the same building as its much larger sister court, the Court of Justice of the European Union, poses a threat to the autonomy of the EFTA Court. Despite this, the EFTA Court has developed its own distinct body of jurisprudence as well as its own approach to the administration of justice. It has maintained fidelity to particular EFTA values, such as the belief in free trade and open markets, efficiency, and a contemporary perspective on mankind. Even during the first 24 years of its existence, it exerted an influence on the case-law of the ECJ that was disproportionate to its size.
Because the law governing the EEA Single Market is an economic law, the significance of economics, which is an aspect that is frequently neglected, is also addressed. In its conclusion, the book examines both the complicated relationship that Switzerland has with the EU and the imminent departure of the United Kingdom from the EU. In this regard, it argues that the EFTA pillar should be expanded into a second European structure under the leadership of the British government and with participation from the Swiss government.”
