Instead of approaching rights by categorising them into various substantive types or distinguishing them from other concepts, such as principles, this book suggests that individual rights are better understood through a relational definition. An individual right under EU law can thus be defined as the correlative of an obligation, triggered into existence by an individual’s interest in the fulfilment of this obligation. Scanning CJEU case law over successive generations of rights, the book demonstrates that this definition of individual rights resists the test of time and the successive reconfigurations of the EU’s legal order.
Catherine Warin, a practising lawyer at the Luxembourg bar, holds a PhD in law from the University of Luxembourg. This book is based on her PhD thesis, for which she was awarded the Pierre Pescatore Prize by the University of Luxembourg’s Doctoral School of Law.