Dr Luigi Lonardo mentioned in an Opinion by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)

23 Nov 2023

Acting Director of the Centre for European Integration mentioned in a case regarding alleged human rights violations of the European Union. 

The School of Law’s Dr Luigi Lonardo, Acting Director of the Centre for European Integration, has been mentioned in the Opinion by Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta in Joined Cases C‑29/22 P and C‑44/22 P KS and KD v Eulex Kosovo

This case is an action brought by two individuals who lost family members in the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict. As explained in the Court’s press release, ‘the murders and disappearances remained unsolved. In 2008, the European Union established a civilian mission, the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo), which had, among its tasks, the investigation of such crimes. The two individuals considered that EULEX Kosovo did not properly investigate the crimes involving their family members. As a result, they claimed a breach of their fundamental rights. They brought an action for damages requesting compensation before EU courts.’

The issue: a political question?

The dispute centres on whether the European Court of Justice has jurisdiction to hear such claims for damages allegedly stemming from the conduct of the EU in the context of a security and defence mission.

In her Opinion, delivered on 23 November 2023, Advocate General Ćapeta referred to the analysis by Luigi Lonardo, ‘The political question doctrine as applied to common foreign and security policy’, (2017) 22(4) European Foreign Affairs Review 571.