In every legal system, judgments benefit from a unique status which differentiates them from other types of legal acts. The specificity of judgments is related, in particular, to their effects: above all, the function of the judiciary is to resolve disputes, through decisions which have the authority necessary to be binding, not only for the parties, but also for the legal order as a whole. The authority of judicial decisions also justifies many procedural rules, which try to ensure the equality of the parties and the access of judges to the best information possible on the facts from which the conflict emerged. The decision will be irrevocable, it will have to be held to be true (res judicata pro veritate habetur): it is best to ensure that the judgment made by the court is based on an understanding of the facts which is as close as possible to reality. The authority of judicial decisions is an essential guarantee for the authority of the courts and the stability of legal relations. It is a condition for the efficiency, and indeed the usefulness, of judicial institutions. It is also a fundamental guarantee for the litigants, who must be able to rely on the finality of the judgment that concerns them and on their authority on all operators within the legal order. This guarantee is established, in the field of criminal law, by thene bis in idem principle.
European Union law and the ECHR system both respect the specific authority of judicial decisions. Yet, the issue of the impact of European law on the authority of judgments within the Member States, as well as that of the effects of the judgments of the European Courts themselves, have been periodic topics of debate for many years. The bookRes Judicata in European Union Law. A Multi-Faceted Principle in a Multilevel Judicial Systempresents a cross-sectional analysis of the principle of res judicata in European Union law. A few months after its publication, this conference is an opportunity to reflect more broadly upon the authority of judicial acts in European legal systems and on the impact of European norms in this authority, as guaranteed in domestic law. This conference is also part of the COSJE project, co-funded by the Pays de la Loire region and Nantes University, which aims to study the process of development of European standards of procedural law.
This conference is hosted by the DCS CNRS research unit, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, Nantes University, and co-funded by DCS and by the Pays de la Loire region.
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