Democracy in the EU: A Value Beyond the Ballot Box

For the CEL 51^st Annual Lecture, President Koen Lenaerts will explain, in the light of the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, that respect for the value of democracy cannot be limited to protecting the ballot box.

Free and fair elections are vital for a democracy. However, that is not enough. In his view, the value of democracy requires much more. It requires a transparent and accountable government, an active civil society, free and pluralistic media, and minorities who feel protected. It also requires future generations of Europeans to learn and understand how EU demoicracy operates in practice, and to share and cherish the values on which the EU is founded.

This lecture is hosted also by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Next Generation EU-UK Relations (JMCE NEXT-REL)

President Koen Lenaerts,
President of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Koen Lenaerts was elected as President of the Court of Justice on 8 October 2015 and has held that office since then. He obtained a law degree in 1977 from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven before continuing his studies at Harvard University, USA, where he obtained a Master of Laws in 1978 and a Master in Public Administration in 1979. Returning to Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, he became a Doctor of Laws in 1982. It was at that same university that he started his professional career in 1979 as a lecturer before becoming a Professor of European Law in 1983. During his university career, he also taught at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) from 1984 to 1989 and as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, USA, in 1989.He began his career at the Court of Justice as a legal secretary to Judge René Joliet, a post which he held from 1984 to 1985 before working as a lawyer at the Brussels Bar from 1986 to 1989. He was appointed as a Judge at the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 25 September 1989, the date on which that newly created court was established. He served in that capacity for more than 14 years before being appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2003. He was elected by his peers to the office of President of Chamber for two successive terms from 9 October 2006 to 8 October 2012 and subsequently to the office of Vice-President of the Court of Justice on 9 October 2012.

Lord Sales, UK Supreme Court, in the Chair

Philip James Sales, Lord Sales became a Justice of the Supreme Court in January 2019. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, before reading law at both Churchill College, Cambridge, and Worcester College, Oxford. Lord Sales was called to the Bar of England and Wales at Lincoln's Inn in 1985 and was appointed First Treasury Junior Counsel in 1997. He was an Assistant Recorder from 1999 to 2001, Recorder from 2001 and 2008, and Deputy High Court Judge from 2004 and 2008. Lord Sales became a Queen's Counsel in 2006 and continued to act in the re-named post of First Treasury Counsel Common Law until his appointment to the High Court, Chancery Division in 2008. He was a member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal between 2008 and 2015, and Vice-President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal between 2014 and 2015. Between 2009 and 2014 Lord Sales served as Deputy Chair of the Boundary Commission for England. He was appointed as a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2014.

Join us after for a drinks reception and some nibbles.

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