Subsidiarity Principle in Functioning of Integrational Courts: EFTA Court and Unified Patent Court

The article analyzes approaches to determining the principle of subsidiarity in the activities of international courts and its content in the context of interaction between the integration court and national courts of the member States of the respective organization.

The article raises the question of the possibility of applying this principle to characterize the legal status of the Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association and the Unified Patent Court, in particular, from the point of their subsidiary nature to the Court of Justice of the European Union. In the context of this principle, certain features of the status of the European Free Trade Association Court and the Unified Patent Court in terms of their competence, the mechanisms of interaction with the national courts. The subsidiary nature of the designated integration courts vis-à-vis the Court of Justice of the European Union, as reflected in the delimitation of powers between the said bodies and their position regarding the institutional structure of the European Union, is substantiated.
The example of the European Free Trade Association Court and the Unified Patent Court illustrates how, for a single organization, several integration courts may operate concurrently, with varying powers arising from the objectives of their institution, while ensuring the unity of law enforcement.