Two Journeys Intertwined: Lord Kerr and EU Law

The career of Lord Kerr happens to coincide with United Kingdom membership of the EU. This chapter reflects on the intersection of that career with EU Law, focusing on the cases Lord Kerr heard in the Supreme Court and in particular those EU Law cases where he gave the leading judgment. Lord Kerr heard about four cases a year with an EU Law dimension across a limited number of fields: more than half the cases concerned immigration and asylum; extradition (under the European Arrest Warrant) and employment law. He was adept at navigating the complex relationship between the two legal orders of EU and domestic law while giving principled and significant judgments on a range of issues including the status of the death penalty in both EU law and in the common law; the obligation on public authorities to adhere to the rule of law; and the existence of an EU law principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. As in other fields, when analysing and applying EU Law, Lord Kerr showed himself to be a progressive judge championing the rights of the individual in relation to the exercise of public authority.