The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘Charter’) lists 50 fundamental rights that apply to dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, citizenship and justice in the European Union (‘EU’). Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the Charter has been legally binding on the institutions of the EU and on Member States, only when they are implementing Union Law.

The Charter exists 10 years. Several questions about the Charter have been clarified, such as the status of the Charter and the significance of the Charter on national legal orders. There is a vast amount of case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in which the Charter has proven its value, and national courts are increasingly applying the Charter in national proceedings too. Although many questions have already been addressed, the Charter is still in full development and questions remain about the scope of the Charter, the interpretation of ‘new’ fundamental rights included in the Charter; the restrictions that are possible to fundamental rights deriving from the Charter; and the relation with the European Convention on Human Rights. Ultimately, it is up to the domestic courts to interpret the Charter; not only the Court of Justice of the European Union, but also the national judge increasingly is confronted with the Charter.

With the publication of this book, a further dimension is provided to the discussion and development concerning fundamental rights protection in the EU and national practice. With the contributions present in this bundle, developments are closely followed in the triangle Luxembourg-Brussels-Strasbourg.

This collection aims to provide guidance to practice and academics. The publication contains annotated judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union from the period 2016-2018, commenting on landmark cases in which the Charter was central to the dictum of the Court of Justice of the European Union.