This book provides an original, international and multidisciplinary perspective on the recent and extensive political and constitutional changes in Europe. The contributors cover changes from several key European countries, whether European Union members, applicant members, non-EU members or potentially former members, namely France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, the Western Balkans and Switzerland. The volume offers a rare understanding of contemporary European societies by examining how people’s choices as citizens and voters have influenced and can influence those changes and thus make a difference via elections and referendums. It will appeal to students and scholars of European studies, comparative politics, and voting behaviour, as well as to the wider readership interested in current affairs and European issues. 

This is a time when the rule of law is seriously challenged, when governments threaten deliberately to break the law, and the independence of justice is jeopardised by unrelenting pressure from both the executive and the media. This book aims at contributing to restoring trust in judges as custodians of the law and justice, through a comparison between Civil and Common Law countries. It offers a rare opportunity to gather the expertise of eminent judges and legal authorities from five different countries, providing a unique insight into their work and the way they deliver justice based on their respective professional experience and practise of the law. Far from being a highly technical debate between experts, however, the book is accessible to students and the general public, and raises important contemporary legal issues that involve them both as citizens, with justice as a shared aspiration, and a common attachment to the rule of law.

This book provides an original, international and multidisciplinary perspective on the recent and extensive political and constitutional changes in Europe. The contributors cover changes from several key European countries, whether European Union members, applicant members, non-EU members or potentially former members, namely France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, the Western Balkans and Switzerland. The volume offers a rare understanding of contemporary European societies by examining how people’s choices as citizens and voters have influenced and can influence those changes and thus make a difference via elections and referendums. It will appeal to students and scholars of European studies, comparative politics, and voting behaviour, as well as to the wider readership interested in current affairs and European issues. 

This is a time when the rule of law is seriously challenged, when governments threaten deliberately to break the law, and the independence of justice is jeopardised by unrelenting pressure from both the executive and the media. This book aims at contributing to restoring trust in judges as custodians of the law and justice, through a comparison between Civil and Common Law countries. It offers a rare opportunity to gather the expertise of eminent judges and legal authorities from five different countries, providing a unique insight into their work and the way they deliver justice based on their respective professional experience and practise of the law. Far from being a highly technical debate between experts, however, the book is accessible to students and the general public, and raises important contemporary legal issues that involve them both as citizens, with justice as a shared aspiration, and a common attachment to the rule of law.