What are the benefits and limitations of invoking European law to challenge government overreach? In this talk, Professor Roberto Mastroianni sheds light on this important question by discussing how the laws of the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights were leveraged to challenge the media monopoly held by then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the Centro Europa 7 case. By elaborating on the broader implications of this case - in which Mastroianni participated as part of the legal team challenging Berlusconi - Mastroianni demonstrates how European laws, while useful in making legal arguments against democracy-eroding government actions, all-too often fail to prove decisive in holding state actors into account, underscoring the limits of a judge-centric strategy for protecting media pluralism and fundamental rights.
A copy of the workshop material may be picked up in 416A Robertson Hall during regular business hours.