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European Judicial Protection –

Lecture 1: course outline &
introduction

Prof. Jurian Langer & Dr. Matthijs van Wolferen

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Course outline
• Lecture 1: introduction
• Lecture 2: theory of judicial protection
• Lecture 3 & 4: preliminary reference procedure
• Lecture 5: guest lecture
• Lecture 6: actions for annulment
• Lecture 7: infringement proceedings

Active participation
Exam: individual final essay
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Composition
• MS nominate judges and AG
• But: judges and AG do not represent interests of
MS
• Numbers:
CoJ: 27 judges & 11 AG
GC: 54 judges
• Permanent AG and rotating AG
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Judicial architecture
• Article 19(1) TEU:
‘The Court of Justice of the European Union shall
include the Court of Justice, the General Court
and specialised courts.’
• European judicial protection: from one-stop, to two
court-system, to three-tiered system to two
court-system
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Jurisdiction
• Compulsory jurisdiction, but article 5(2) TEU:
‘…within the limits of the powers conferred on it in the
Treaties.’
• Article 19(1) TEU specifies the tasks:
‘It shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of
the Treaties the law is observed…’
• Set of rules:
Statute of the Court
Articles 251-282 TFEU
Rules of procedure
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Proceedings
• Infringement procedures
Articles 258 & 259 TFEU
• Judicial control of activities of EU institutions
Articles 263 & 265 TFEU
Article 268 TFEU
Article 270 TFEU
Article 281 TFEU
• Preliminary reference procedure
Article 267 TFEU
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Exception
Exclusive jurisdiction, except for article 24 TEU:

‘The Court of Justice of the European Union shall not have

jurisdiction with respect to these provisions [Common Foreign
and Security Policy], with the exception of its jurisdiction to
monitor compliance with Article 40 of this Treaty and to
review the legality of certain decisions as provided for by the
second paragraph of Article 275 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union.’
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Allocation of jurisdiction
• CoJ:
Infringement actions
Preliminary references
Specific actions for annulment and failure lodged by
institutions/MS
Appeals against rulings of GC
Opinions under article 218
• GC:
Actions for annulment and failure lodged by natural/legal persons
Specific actions for annulment and failure lodged by MS
Actions relating to compensation for non-contractual damage
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Mistakes?

Article 54 of the Statute!

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Closing

Thank you very much for your attention!

For details regarding the preliminary reference procedure, see

this article.

Feedback and questions are welcome:

J.langer@rug.nl