Common European Legal Thinking – Essays in honour of Alrecht Weber

Common European Legal Thinking emanates from the existence of a shared European
legal culture as especially reflected in the existence of a common European
constitutional law. It denotes a body of individual constitutional principles – written
and unwritten – that represent the common heritage of the constitutions of the
Member States. Taking into account the two major European organisations, the
Council of Europe and especially the European Union, the essays of this Festschrift
discuss a range of constitutional principles, including the rule of law, democracy,
and the exercise of political power in a multilevel system which recognises fundamental
rights as directly applicable and supreme law. Other essays examine the
value of pluralism, the commitment of private organisations to uphold public values,
principles or rules, and the objectives and methods of a transnational science
of administrative law. These articles highlight the fact that the Ius Publicum Europaeum
Commune is “politically” in the making, which can often be seen in the
shape of general legal principles. The publication recognises the role of Albrecht
Weber as a forerunner of Common European Legal Thinking.