ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Despite the effects that the COVID-19 crisis had on the conduct of proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the Court again delivered a number of important judgments in the field of the European Union (EU, the Union) fundamental and human rights law in 2020.

In order to provide a succinct overview of this jurisprudence, the contribution at hand presents and discusses seven judgments the authors consider to be of particular interest and relevance. The contribution's foremost aim is to provide the reader with a representative summary of the most important cases in such different fields as the rule of law, right to asylum, the protection of personal data, freedom of religion, academic freedom and non-discrimination. All of the cases – one review proceeding, one infringement proceeding and five preliminary reference proceedings – were Grand Chamber (GC) judgments delivered by the European Court of Justice (ECJ, the Court). The selection of cases to be included in this contribution is based on subjective criteria.

Each case note consists of four sections: (i) a brief introduction; (ii) a summary of the facts and background to the case; (iii) a summary of the judgment; and (iv) a short comment. It is not intended to provide an exhaustive analysis of the Court's case law, but rather to highlight noteworthy trends, developments and/or peculiarities.