Good Judgment: The European Court of Justice as a Context Conscious

Good judgment is a phrase evoking in equal parts legal expertise, prudence, common sense, and political savoir faire in the context of adjudication. For the purposes of the present analysis, good judgment describes a distinct form of context-conscious judging, which upholds conflicting claims to reconcile the law’s demands for equality, consistency, coherence, and legal certainty, with societal demands, political circumstances, and economic implications. As a heuristic tool, it offers a new lens to observe and explain the decision-making strategy and role of the European Court of Justice. Chapter one presents the claim, the motivation, and the contribution, distinguishing the book from the existing literature. It concludes with the outline of individual chapters.