The Italian Influence on European Law: Judges and Advocates General (1952-2000)
By (Author) Daniele Gallo
Edited by Roberto Mastroianni
Edited by Fernanda G. Nicola
Edited by Lorenzo Cecchetti
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Hart Publishing
23rd April 2026
United Kingdom
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
352
Width 156mm, Height 234mm
Drawing on expertise from across the worlds of the judiciary, the bar, and legal academia, this book provides fascinating insights into the role of a key Member State and how its legal influence informs the wider Unions development.
This collection sheds light on the Italian influence on European law by examining the judicial biographies of Italian judges and advocates general during almost five decades of the European Union. It explores the national ties of judges and advocates general to their Member States, to better understand the continuous relationship between the members of the EU judiciary and their Member States governments and how they practise the principle of judicial independence, a central pillar of the ECJs rule of law jurisprudence.
This book showcases the importance of studying the history of European Union law. By recovering, through careful biographical studies, the leading Italian figures involved in the development of European Union law, the book offers a new, groundbreaking understanding of how Italy helped to shape the European legal order and how it was in turn affected by it. * Morten Rasmussen, Associate Professor in history, University of Copenhagen *
What does it mean to be at once Italian, male, and a member of the EU judiciary in the second half of the 20th century Does the shared nationality of a subset of CJEU Judges and AGs imply any one thing in particular Is there a distinctly Italian style, to quote John Henry Merryman, or some other thread that connects, epistemically, the biographies collected in this Volume Much to their credit, the Editors refrain from feeding the reader a facile answer to such questions. An enjoyable read and an important contribution to legal sociology, history, and theory of adjudication. * Daniela Caruso, Professor of Law emerita, Boston University School of Law *
Against the backdrop of the rich legal tapestry which EU law has become, this book provides a fascinating insight into the contribution of Italys judicial pioneers during the first phases of the legal integration process. * Professor Sofra OLeary, Former President, European Court of Human Rights *
The Italian Influence on European Law is a splendid book that casts both light and scrutiny on the lives of the Italian judges at the European Court of Justice. Readers only familiar with the Court as an impersonal institution will read fascinating accounts of Pilotti, Mancini, Tesauro and, above all, of Alberto Trabucchi, who contributed so much to the birth of the direct effect doctrine in the early 1960s. More profoundly, the book asks us to reflect on the ways that distinctively national approaches to law have had a profound effect on European law. The Italian Influence on European Law therefore sets new agendas by challenging researchers to take seriously both the individual and the national in that most anonymous and transnational of projects, the European legal order. * William Phelan, author of Great Judgments of the European Court of Justice *
Daniele Gallo is Full Professor of EU Law at Luiss University Law Department, Rome, Italy, where he was Jean Monnet Chair 2020-2023.
Roberto Mastroianni is Full Professor of EU Law at the Law School of the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and Judge at the General Court of the EU.
Fernanda G Nicola is Professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law, USA.
Lorenzo Cecchetti is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in EU Law at Luiss University Law Department, Rome, Italy.