This is the inaugural issue of the European Yearbook of Constitutional Law (EYCL), an annual publication that will be devoted to the study of constitutional law. It aims to provide a forum for in-depth analysis and discussion of new developments in the field, both in Europe and beyond. Each issue will be dedicated to a specific theme. While a number of journals cover the topic of constitutional law, there has until now been no yearbook dedicated to the study of the discipline. The benefit of a yearbook is that it can be devoted to specific themes, with a different aspect of the field being covered each year. Although this is also possible in journals, some journals avoid ‘special issues’, whereas others allow such issues, but remain focused on publishing series of mostly unrelated articles. The theme of the present volume is ‘Judicial Power: Safeguards and Limits in a Democratic Society’, while the next volume will concentrate on ‘The City in Constitutional Law’. We are grateful to T.M.C. Asser Press and Springer for their support in publishing this yearbook, to Tilburg Law School for its commitment to bringing this project to fruition, and to the authors and anonymous reviewers of this year’s volume.