This is a Carnegie funded project which looks at the application of European Union (‘EU’) law before the Scottish courts for the first time since the UK joined the European Union in 1973. European law produces rights and obligations which must be given effect by national courts in any legal disputes.

This is the first comprehensive study of the application of EU law by the Scottish courts. It is important to consider the extent to which EU law is considered and applied in domestic legal disputes in order to assess its impact on the Scottish legal order and consequently on personal, social and economic life in Scotland.

The hypothesis is that there has been an increasing number of legal judgments by Scottish courts in recent years applying EU law, demonstrating the increasing substantive reach of EU law and enhanced awareness of EU rights and one aspect of the project is to assess how the picture of EU law before the Scottish courts maps to distinct processes and phases in the development of the EU and EU law.

Professor Barry Rodger, Strathclyde University Law School, has undertaken this project with the invaluable research assistance of Mr Liam Maclean (Shepherd & Wedderburn).