The effectiveness of the EU law application by national courts of the Slovak Republic: case study of preliminary references. Part one

Introduction. The author examines the effectiveness of the procedure under Article 267 TFEU before national courts in the Slovak Republic in practice. The article deals with the practice of the CJEU on cases in which the questions were referred by the courts of general jurisdiction in the Slovak Republic. In terms of primary law and jurisprudence of CJEU, the national courts are obliged to cooperate with the CJEU to carry out the duties assigned to them in order to ensure that the interpretation and application of EU law are held in compliance with the Treaties. The author summarizes particular characteristics related to judicial practice of courts of general jurisdiction in the Slovak Republic. Methods. During the research, the author employs general scientific methods, such as analysis, comparison; on the other hand in the paper the formal-legal method is applied, as well. Results. The author analyzes the application of EU law by national courts in terms of preliminary references procedure in the Slovak Republic. Conclusions. On the basis of the information provided in the paper, it appears that apart from Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic, all courts of general jurisdiction have shown ineffective results within the preliminary references procedure that also raises doubts about the effectiveness of application of EU law by general courts of the Slovak Republic in general in situations when they consider the legal situation of hearing cases undeniable.