This summer’s study session will take place from August 24 to September 12, 2026. The program consists of 2 general courses, 2 special courses, guest lectures, debate sessions, field trips, cultural visits and other social events. The final session takes place in Sounion, where students participate in the Annual Reunion of the European Group of Public Law.
Security, Defense and Judicial Review in Contemporary European Public Law
In recent years, rapidly evolving security threats have profoundly reshaped the European legal landscape. Questions of collective defense, mutual assistance and resilience against hybrid threats now occupy a central place in international law and European regulation, while national constitutional and administrative frameworks struggle to keep pace. Security and defense have become crucial testing grounds for the relationship between international law, EU law and domestic constitutional law, raising issues of competence allocation, democratic control and the balance between sovereignty and European solidarity.
Within this broader context, new regulatory challenges have gained outstanding importance. The protection of key assets and systems against complex threats illustrates the interdependence of security, economic stability and fundamental rights. These developments straddle defense, policing, privacy and safety, raising difficult questions of accountability, oversight and democratic control. They also demand coordinated responses at international, European and national levels, including cross‑border cooperation, effective enforcement and the protection of both analogue and digital rights.
Parallel to these developments, constitutional courts and supreme jurisdictions in Europe have assumed an increasingly prominent role in reviewing court decisions and administrative action in light of human rights and the rule of law. Access to constitutional justice, individual and constitutional complaints, and the interaction between constitutional courts, ordinary courts and European courts (ECtHR, CJEU) have become central features of contemporary European public law. The evolving practice of judicial review of administrative authorities and constitutional review of court decisions reflect deeper tensions: contestation of judicial independence, backsliding on the rule of law, and conflicts between national constitutional identity and supranational obligations all converge in the case law of courts.
The 2026 Academy explores how European and national legal systems structure judicial review of administrative actions, how constitutional courts frame standards of control and deference, and how these mechanisms respond to contemporary human rights and rule of law challenges.
Participants will gain in‑depth knowledge of the evolving intersections between security and defense, European and international regulation, and constitutional and administrative adjudication. The summer academy promotes a sophisticated understanding of how security policies are shaped and constrained by law, and how judicial and constitutional review function as safeguards against arbitrariness and as instruments for the protection of rights. Through theoretically grounded courses, comparative legal methods, case‑law based discussions and modelling practices participants will be equipped to engage critically with current challenges to European public law.
