Taricco II and Weighing the Interests at Stake: the Constitutional Principle of Legality in Criminal Law and the Effectiveness of EU Law

Sa？etak With its Taricco II judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) reopened discussion on the fundamental characteristics of European Union law, namely supremacy, the unity and effectiveness of that law, and its impact on the protection of fundamental rights afforded by the constitutional courts of Member States. In weighing the interests at stake, i.e. the effectiveness of Union law against a higher level of protection of fundamental rights at the national level, the CJEU gives priority to the effectiveness principle. The CJEU has thus developed its own standards of protection of fundamental rights, which must be applied uniformly in all Member States. Such practices provoke resistance and disagreement among scholars. This article analyses the aspects of EU law that have not been fully clarified by that judgment