The death of laws : mandatory requirements and environmental protection

Abstract

Legal change is usually seen as a process exogenous to law. In this article, we argue that laws, even if left untouched by the political process, decay of their own accord. The first part develops the argument in conceptual form. The second illustrates it through an example from European Union law. Specifically, it shows that the Court of Justice of the European Union's 'mandatory requirements' doctrine was gradually hollowed out.