THE «DUAL PRELIMINARITY» DOCTRINE IN THE CASE LAW OF ORDINARY COURTS OF FIRST INSTANCE AND APPEALS

This essay summarizes and discusses upon how some ordinary (civil and criminal) courts of first instance and appeals have employed the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the light of the «dual preliminarity» doctrine affirmed by the Italian Constitutional Court (ItCC) in judgment No. 269 of 2017. Overall, this doctrine fulfilled its aims and the ItCC receives some cooperation from ordinary courts. Yet the new doctrine is not entirely clear in all its respects, and one of them particularly deserves further clarification: whether «dual preliminarity» applies when national law infringes (not only on Charter provisions, but) also on EU secondary legislation endowed with direct effect, and not only on the Charter.