Conforming Interpretation

Abstract

It is still assumed in scholarship that ‘contra legem’ characterizes the Court of Justice of the European Union case law on conforming interpretation. This article argues, through a new reading of the relevant CJEU jurisprudence, that the case law on conforming interpretation has been taking a new direction away from ‘contra legem’. A critique of the new jurisprudence is then proposed through pointing to two unrenounceable virtues of the ‘contra legem’ requirement – towards making scholarship aware of the urgent need to take seriously, and critically face, the new jurisprudence.