General Principles of Law as Common Constitutional Traditions of the European Union Member States

Abstract

The article examines the notion of “common constitutional traditions” of the European Union Member States looking for the content of this open-ended term. It is agreed and even on the international level that fundamental rights are the part of the common constitutional traditions, but in this article, it is suggested to connect the notion with the notion of the general principles of law thus obtaining more comprehensive and elaborate understanding of what the content of the common constitutional traditions really involve. General principles of law are a common source of law to all the legal arrangements of the European Union Member States as they are derived from the same Basic Norm – democratic state based on the Rule of Law, and fundamental rights are only one part of the general principles of law as they are much wider notion. That is why looking from the perspective of the general principles of law as common source of law of all the legal arrangements based on the Basic Norm – democratic state based on the Rule of Law common constitutional traditions besides the human rights involve also legal methods and those general principles of law which govern the system requirements for the legal arrangement.

Keywords

• general principles of law
• common constitutional traditions
• Basic Norm
• constitutional identity
• values