How to apply the Charter?

• Pages: 44-46

Applying the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in law

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6 How to apply the Charter

Where during an e xamination of the drafti ng of national law or policies t he conclusion

is reached that the Char ter applies, such national law and pol icies need to be inter-

preted in line with th e Charter and, where necessary, reviewed aga inst the Charter.

This requires natio nal actors to know how to interpret the C harter and to understan d

whether and to what e xtent the exercise of Charter rights ca n be limited.

What are the relevant tools for interpretation?

Various tools can info rm the interpretation of Charter righ ts:

•The Explanat ions relating to the Charter.

97

The explanati ons are a useful point of

departure provid ing guidance on th e interpretation of th e Charter and are to be

taken into consideration when interpreting the Charter provisions.

98

•The case law of the CJEU.

99

•The ECHR and the cas e law of the European Court of Human Right s.

100

•Constitutional traditions common to the Member States.

101

•Relevant sources of intern ational law (other than the ECH R), particularl y the

European Social Cha rter, which inspired the fo rmulation of a num ber of provi-

sions of the EU Charte r of Fundamental Rights. Both the C harter and its Explana-

tions mention cer tain instrum ents of internation al law that are relevant for th e

interpretation of th e Charter.

102

•Relevant national law s. Some Charter provisions make reference to natio nal law.

For example, Ar ticle 9 (right to marry and r ight to found a family) st ates that,

“[t]he right to marry and the rig ht to found a family shall be gua ranteed in accord-

ance with the nationa l laws governing the exercise of these right s”.

97 Off‌icial Jo urnal of the European U nion, OJC303, 14Decemb er2007, pp.17–35.

98 European Communi ties (2012), Consolidated v ersion of the Treaty on the Euro pean Union

(TEU), OJ C 326, 26 O ctober 2012, Ar t. 6(1) and EU (2012), Charter of Fund amental Rights of th e

European Uni on, OJ 2012 C326, 26Octobe r2012, Art.52(7).

99 Available at Curia or EUR-Lex.

100 EU (2012), Charte r of Fundamental Rig hts of the European Unio n, OJ2012C326, 26 October

2012, Art .52(3).

101 EU (2012), Charte r of Fundamental Rig hts of the European Unio n, OJ2012C326, 26October

2012, Art .52(4).

102 See the Annex to this handbook.