The indirect review of administrative action in search of a fair balance between legality and legal certainty

In this introductory chapter, we present the aim and structure of the edited collection as well as its main findings. We first sketch the scope and rationale of the system of indirect judicial review, then we move to examine the bodies which can indirectly review the administrative action as well as (procedural) workings of the mechanism. Subsequently, we try to provide some insights into the concrete operation and current use of the system of indirect review. We finally move to discussing the notion of indirect review of administrative action as a tool to balance legality and legal certainty and draw some conclusions on the existence of a ‘common core’ in Europe when it comes to the system of indirect review of administrative action.