The court that not only barked but bit

The supreme national courts are the domestic source of legal authority. This absolute authority of theirs was, though, challenged upon the formation of the autonomous legal entity of the European Union, guaranteed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

The CJEU often emerges as a rival force of the supreme national courts and the national law they represent, due to EU law's demand for "supremacy."

The German Federal Constitutional Court is one of the national courts that often resits CJEU's jurisprudence, and in particular, the absolute and unlimited version of supremacy that it has, at times, tried to establish.

Undoubtedly, the relationship between the two judicial authorities has been turbulent. However, despite its strong threats, the German court has managed to prevent an open conflict with the CJEU so far, due to a series of retreats - and...