As Berkeley Law basked in a welcome respite of blue skies after a period of chilly rainstorms, Thomas von Danwitz brought welcome rays of hope for human rights during his recent visit to the school.
A judge with the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg since 2006, von Danwitz gave this year’s Irving G. Tragen Lecture in Comparative Law on “The Role of the Court of Justice in the Course of European Integration.” Chosen for his ongoing contributions to international scholarship and case law, he also spoke on privacy law and tech regulation, recorded a podcast episode with Berkeley Law Professor Katerina Linos, and renewed rooted relationships while making valued new ones.
A rapt Tragen Lecture audience ranging in age from 20 to 100 heard von Danwitz trace the emergence, development, and perspective of the European Union’s judiciary. With the EU Court of Justice marking its 70th anniversary, von Danwitz elucidated its progression in shaping the evolving legal framework for key economic, social, and political developments in Europe and beyond.
“The court’s contribution to the consolidation of the European peace and order and to the protection of rights and freedoms of (EU) citizens” has been vital, said von Danwitz, who served as its president from 2012 to 2018 after being elected by his peers. He recounted the court’s strong influence on supreme and constitutional courts across the world, its establishment as “a community of law instead of a primacy of politics” in the aftermath of World War II.
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