More Heads, More Reason? A Comparative Reflection on the Role of Grand Chambers at National and European Levels

David Petrlík et al. (eds.), Évolution des rapports entre les ordres juridiques de l'Union européenne, international et nationaux: Liber amicorum Jiří Malenovský (Larcier, 2020), pp. 523-550.

27 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2021

See all articles by Michal Bobek

Michal Bobek

Supreme Administrative Court

Date Written: November 8, 2020

Abstract

In multi-paneled higher jurisdictions, a larger, extended formation of judges tends to be established within the court. It bears various names: the grand chamber, the extended chamber, the expanded composition, the reunion of several chambers, a court sitting en banc, a section or a division of a court. In larger but not too large jurisdictions, the same role is assumed by the plenary. What is the role, function, and the ensuing justification for a grand chamber within a supreme jurisdiction? In seeking an answer to this question, this chapter begins by outlining the traditional sources of judicial legitimacy, noting that although they are able to explain the bigger picture, they do not really account for the grand chambers nor their functional justification (§ 1). The chapter then turns to a comparative overview of some of the grand chambers at European – national – courts, overseas in the common law world, as well as at the ECtHR, seeking to tease out the functional rationale for various types of extended judicial compositions in those systems (§ 2). Having indeed identified two types of such functional justifications for grand chambers, the argument then projects those justifications onto the legislative design and the current practice of the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice, before concluding with two modest suggestions (§ 3).

Suggested Citation

Bobek, Michal, More Heads, More Reason? A Comparative Reflection on the Role of Grand Chambers at National and European Levels (November 8, 2020). David Petrlík et al. (eds.), Évolution des rapports entre les ordres juridiques de l'Union européenne, international et nationaux: Liber amicorum Jiří Malenovský (Larcier, 2020), pp. 523-550. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3726877 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3726877

Michal Bobek (Contact Author)

Supreme Administrative Court ( email )

Moravské náměstí 6
Brno, 65740
Czech Republic

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