Tony Arnull

Professor Arnull's research has focused mainly on the law of the European Union, in particular the role and jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice; the configuration of the European Union's judicial system; and the relationship between European Union law and national law, especially that of the United Kingdom. His monograph on the European Court of Justice, now in its second edition, has been described as ‘an excellent book…useful, well-conceived and thoroughly well-executed…’

His recent work has examined the response of the Member States to decisions of the European Court of Justice perceived as ‘activist’; the changing style of scholarship on European Union law; the approach of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords to European Union law; the process which led to the Treaty of Lisbon and the various crises by which that process was punctuated; the events surrounding the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon by Ireland; the principle of effective judicial protection in European Union law; the effect of the Treaty of Lisbon on the European Court of Justice; judicial dialogue in the European Union; and the role academics might play in responding to the case law of the European Court of Justice.

After studying at the School of European Studies, University of Sussex, and the Institut d'Etudes Européennes, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Professor Arnull qualified as a solicitor with a ‘magic circle’ firm in the City of London. He began his academic career in 1983 at the University of Leicester, where he was awarded his doctorate in 1988. From 1989 to 1992, Professor Arnull worked at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg as a référendaire in the chambers of Advocate General FG Jacobs. He was appointed Wragge Professor of European Law at the University of Birmingham in 1991 and took up his post there the following year. He became Barber Professor of Jurisprudence in 2008. He is currently serving as Director of Education for the College of Arts & Law.