Strategic interaction among courts within the preliminary reference process – Stage 1: National court preemptive opinions

摘要: .  While scholars today are well-acquainted with how the European Community preliminary reference process works, little research has been done to investigate strategic court interaction – that is, intentional, procedural behaviour employed influence substantive direction of legal evolution, within process. The present investigation, which is part a larger project examining such throughout referral process, focuses on initial stage: decision refer. Within stage lies opportunity for national courts stack interpretive deck entire decision-making via preemptive opinion, submission neither required, suggested nor prohibited by written guidelines. It assumed institutions seek maximize their policy objectives, and therefore, submit opinions obtain goal. Such behaviour, however, influenced intervening factors namely acceptance Court Justice intervention, judicial procedure, issue complexity individual experience.