E.U.

Law_Course 12_European Court of Justice

The Court of Justice is composed of 27 Judges and eight Advocates General. The Judges and
Advocates General are appointed by common accord by the governments of the Member States for a
renewable term of six years. They are chosen from among lawyers whose independence is beyond
doubt and who possess the qualifications required for appointment, in their respective countries, to
the highest judicial offices, or who are of recognized competence.
The Judges of the Court elect one of themselves as President of the Court for a renewable term of
three years. The President directs the work and staff of the Court and presides at hearings and
deliberations of the full Court or the Grand Chamber.
The Advocates General assists the Court. They are responsible for presenting, with complete
impartiality and independence, an opinion in the cases assigned to them.
The Registrar is the institutions secretary general and manages its departments under the authority
of the President of the Court.
Plenary sessions and chambers
The Court of Justice may sit as a full Court, in a Grand Chamber (13 Judges) or in chambers of
three or five Judges. It sits in a Grand Chamber when a Member State or a Community institution
that is a party to the proceedings so requests, or in particularly complex or important cases. Other
cases are heard by a chamber of three or five Judges. The Presidents of the chambers of five Judges
are elected for three years, the Presidents of the chambers of three Judges for one year. The Court
sits as a full Court in the very exceptional cases exhaustively provided for by the Treaty (for instance,
where it must compulsorily retire the European Ombudsman or a Member of the European
Commission who has failed to fulfill his obligations) and where the Court considers that a case is of
exceptional importance. The quorum for the full Court is 15.
The registry and the administration
The Registrar of the Court is appointed by the Court of Justice to hold office for a term of six years.
He has the same court duties as the registrar or clerk of a national court, but he also acts as
secretary-general of the institution. The Court of Justice, as an independent and autonomous
institution, possesses in addition to the Registry its own administrative infrastructure, which includes a
large language service (translation and interpretation), since the Court must use all the official
languages of the Union in the course of its work.
Jurisdiction
It is the responsibility of the Court of Justice to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation
and application of the Treaties establishing the European Communities and of the provisions laid down
by the competent Community institutions.

To enable it to carry out that task, the Court has wide jurisdiction to hear various types of action. The
Court has competence, inter alia, to rule on applications for annulment or actions for failure to act
brought by a Member State or an institution, actions against Member States for failure to fulfil
obligations, references for a preliminary ruling and appeals against decisions of the Court of First
Instance.
Forms of action
Actions for failure to fulfil obligations:
Such proceedings enable the Court of Justice to determine whether a Member State has fulfilled its
obligations under Community law.
The commencement of proceedings before the Court of Justice is preceded by a preliminary procedure
conducted by the Commission, which gives the Member State the opportunity to reply to the
complaints against it.
If that procedure does not result in termination of the failure by the Member State, an action for
breach of Community law may be brought before the Court of Justice.
That action may be brought by the Commission as is practically always the case or by another
Member State. If the Court finds that an obligation has not been fulfilled, the Member State concerned
must terminate the breach without delay.
If, after new proceedings are initiated by the Commission, the Court of Justice finds that the Member
State concerned has not complied with its judgment, it may, upon the request of the Commission,
impose on the Member State a fixed or a periodic financial penalty.
Actions

for

annulment:

An action for annulment, the applicant seeks the annulment of a measure adopted by an institution
(regulations, directives, decisions).
An action for annulment may be brought by a Member State, by the Community institutions
(Parliament, Council, Commission) or by individuals to whom a measure is addressed or which is of
direct and individual concern to them.
Actions for failure to act:
The Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance may also review the legality of a failure to act on
the part of a Community institution. However, such an action may be brought only after the institution
has been called on to act. Where the failure to act is held to be unlawful, it is for the institution
concerned to put an end to the failure by appropriate measures.
Application for compensation:

In applications for compensation, based on non-contractual liability, the Court of First Instance rules
on the liability of the Community for damage caused to citizens and to undertakings by its institutions
or servants in the performance of their duties.
Appeals:
Lastly, appeals on points of law only may be brought before the Court of Justice against judgments
given by the Court of First Instance. If the appeal is admissible and well founded, the Court of Justice
sets aside the judgment of the Court of First Instance. Where the state of the proceedings so permits,
the Court may itself decide the case. Otherwise, the Court must refer the case back to the Court of
First Instance, which is bound by the decision given on appeal.
References for a preliminary ruling:
References

for

preliminary

ruling

are

specific

to

Community

law.

Whilst the Court of Justice is, by its very nature, the supreme guardian of Community legality, it is not
the only judicial body empowered to apply Community law.
That task also falls to national courts, inasmuch as they retain jurisdiction to review the administrative
implementation of Community law, for which the authorities of the Member States are essentially
responsible; many provisions of the Treaties and of secondary legislation regulations, directives and
decisions directly confer individual rights on nationals of Member States, which national courts must
uphold.
National courts are thus by their nature the first guarantors of Community law. To ensure the effective
and uniform application of Community legislation and to prevent divergent interpretations, national
courts may, and sometimes must, turn to the Court of Justice and ask that it clarify a point concerning
the interpretation of Community law, in order, for example, to ascertain whether their national
legislation complies with that law.
A reference for a preliminary ruling may also seek review of the legality of an act of Community law.
The Court of Justices reply is not merely an opinion, but takes the form of a judgment or a reasoned
order. The national court to which that is addressed is bound by the interpretation given. The Courts
judgment also binds other national courts before which a problem of the same nature is raised.
References for a preliminary ruling also serve to enable any European citizen to seek clarification of
the Community rules which concern him.
Although such a reference may be made only by a national court, which alone has the power to decide
that it is appropriate do so, all the parties involved that is to say, the Member States, the parties in
the proceedings before national courts and, in particular, the Commission may take part in
proceedings before the Court of Justice. In this way, a number of important principles of Community

law have been laid down in preliminary rulings, sometimes in answer to questions referred by national
courts of first instance.
Procedure
Procedure before the Court of Justice is based on that followed before national courts. Whatever the
type of case, there is always a written stage and almost always an oral stage, which takes place in
open court. However, a distinction must be drawn between direct actions and references for
preliminary rulings.
Procedures in direct actions
Initiation of proceedings before the Court
The action must be brought before the Court by written application addressed to the Registry. As soon
as it is received, the application is entered in the Court register. The Registrar publishes a notice of the
action and of the applicants claims in the Official Journal of the European Union. A Judge-Rapporteur
and an Advocate-General, whose duty it is to follow the progress of the case, are then appointed. The
application is served at the same time on the other party, who has one month within which to lodge a
defence. The applicant may submit a reply and the defendant a rejoinder, the time allowed being one
month in each case. The time-limits for lodging these documents must be adhered to unless an
extension is specifically authorised by the President.
Preparatory inquiries and the Report for the Hearing
Once the written procedure is completed, the parties are asked to state, within one month, whether
they wish a hearing to be arranged. The Court decides, upon reading the report of the JudgeRapporteur and hearing the views of the Advocate-General, whether any preparatory inquiry is
necessary and to what type of bench the case should be assigned. The President sets the date for the
public hearing. In a Report for the Hearing, the Judge-Rapporteur summarises the facts alleged and
the arguments of the parties and the interveners, if any. The report is made public in the language of
the case at the hearing.
The public hearing and the Opinion of the Advocate General
The case is argued at public hearing before the appropriate bench and the Advocate-General, unless
the case is decided without an Opinion by the Advocate-General. The Judges and the AdvocateGeneral may put to the parties any questions they consider appropriate. Some weeks later, again in
open court, the Advocate-General delivers his Opinion before the Court of Justice. He or she analyses
in detail the legal aspects of the case and independently proposes a solution to the problem. This
marks the end of the oral procedure.
Deliberation and judgment

Next, the Judges deliberate solely among themselves on the basis of a draft judgment drawn up by
the Judge-Rapporteur. Each of the Judges may propose changes. When a final text has been agreed
upon, judgment is given in open court.
Procedure in references for a preliminary ruling
The national court submits questions to the Court of Justice concerning the interpretation or validity of
a provision of Community law, generally in the form of a judicial decision in accordance with national
procedural rules.
The Registrar has that request translated into all the Community languages, and then not only serves
it on the parties to the main proceedings but also notifies it to the Member States and the institutions.
He has a notice published in the Official Journal indicating, inter alia, the names of the parties involved
and the tenor of the question.
The parties, the Member States and the Community institutions have two months within which to
submit their written observations to the Court of Justice.
The remainder of the procedure is identical to that in direct actions. All those entitled to submit written
observations may also present their arguments orally at the hearing, if a hearing is held.
When the Advocate General has delivered his Opinion and once the Judges have deliberated, the
judgment is read in open court and sent by the Registrar to the national court, the Member States and
the institutions concerned.
Special forms of procedure
Reasoned order
Where a question referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling is identical to a question on which the
Court of Justice has already ruled, or where the answer to the question admits of no reasonable doubt
or may be deduced from existing case-law, the Court of Justice may give its decision by reasoned
order, citing in particular a previous judgment relating to that question or the relevant case-law. In
that case, it must inform the national court which referred the question and first hear the views of the
persons concerned, as well as the Advocate-General.
Application for interim measures
An application for interim measures seeks to suspend the operation of a measure adopted by an
institution or any other interim measure necessary in order to prevent serious and irreparable
damage. Interlocutory proceedings are ancillary to the main proceedings.
Expedited procedure

The expedited procedure makes it possible for the Court to give its ruling with the minimum of delay
where called for by the particular urgency of the case. On application by one of the parties, the
President of the Court may decide, after hearing the other parties, whether the particular urgency of
the case requires the use of the expedited procedure. The expedited procedure can also be used for
references for a preliminary ruling. In that case, the application is made by the national court seeking
a preliminary ruling.
Judgments
Decisions of the Court of Justice are reached by majority. There are no dissenting opinions; judgments
are signed by all the Judges who took part in the deliberations and are read in open court.
The judgments of the Court and the Opinions of the Advocates General are available on the website of
the Court of Justice in all the official languages of the Union, on the day they are read. They are
subsequently published in the Courts Reports of Cases.
The language of the case
The language of the case may be any of the 20 official languages of the Union. In principle, the choice
lies with the applicant. When the defendant is a Member State or a legal or natural person having the
nationality of a Member State, the language of the case will be the official language of that Member
State. If the State has more than one official language, the applicant may choose which he prefers.
Where a preliminary ruling has been requested, the language used is that of the national court which
refers the question to the Court of Justice.
Legal aid
A party unable to meet all or part of the costs of the case may apply for legal aid. The application
must include all supporting evidence. The Chamber to which the Judge-Rapporteur belongs decides
whether or not to grant legal aid.

Summary of procedure before the Court of Justice

Written procedure
Direct actions and appeals
-

Written

References for a preliminary ruling

application

- Order or judgment of the national court

- Service of the application on the defendant

- Translation of the request for a preliminary

Publication of the application in the Official

ruling into all the Community languages and

Journal

notification to the parties, the Member States

Defense

Reply

- Rejoinder

and

the

Community

institutions

- Publication of the request for a preliminary

ruling

in

the

Official

Journal

- Written observations of the parties, the

Member States and the Community institutions
Oral procedure
-

(Hearing)
(Opinion of the Advocate General)
Deliberation of the Court
Judgment