The primacy of EU law in the Maltese legal system

Abstract

By signing the Treaty of Accession of 2003, Malta accepted voluntarily to take all measures implemented by the European Union to which Malta is now part of the decision-making process or withdraw from the Union. Malta has pooled some of its sovereignty, and as long as it remains pooled, sovereignty is limited. It, however, is a general principle of EU law that the latter should not conflict with the fundamental rights established in the Constitutions of Member States. As the author states: ‘The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is not like the European Court of Human Rights, namely an international supervisory Court, but a partner Court of the EU’s rules, the EU being us, our club’. The author explains how with the correct interpretation, the primacy of EU law in the Maltese legal system is in line with all the Treaty requirements.