Balázs Lehóczki Service Press & Information Court of Justice of the EU Harmonising clarity and accuracy in the communication of the Court of Justice of the European Union Balázs Lehóczki Service Press & Information Court of Justice of the EU

Communication of the Court – Target public Journalists (General public) Legal professionals

Communication with journalists – Their needs Quick, concise and legible information Information on background and impacts Minor inaccuracies are tolerable

Communication with legal professionals – Their needs Thorough and legally solid summary of ruling References to quoted sections of judgment Inaccuracies are not acceptable

Our major communications tool: The press release Unofficial document with however approved content Our only communications product on new rulings that is published on our website Designed for satisfying needs of both journalists and lawyers

Clarity in press releases: the drafting Avoid using unnecessary legal terminology Translate the ruling into a layman’s language Be as concise as possible and do not use lengthy sentences Simplify your language (avoid using passive sentences, etc.)

Clarity in press releases: the drafting Tell the story in your heading Do not write more than two pages Be dynamic, tell a story with only a limited number of references to legal background Identify the problem and find a solution

Clarity in press releases: the linguistic control Ensures respect of drafting rules Eliminates grammatical and orthographic errors Improves style

Clarity in press releases: the journalistic control Ensures that the text is ready for publishing as a piece of news Checks adequacy of headings Eliminates redundant parts from text Removes unnecessary legal terminology from text

Accuracy in press releases: the internal legal control Comparison of text with judgment Making sure that all information in press release comes from judgment Detection of inaccuracies in text Weighing of content from a legal point of view

Accuracy in press releases: the external legal control Judges verify if the text actually conveys the message they want to send by their decision Drawing our attention to ambiguous parts in text which are due to lack of unanimity at deliberation Correcting inaccuracies, removing unnecessary and adding missing information

Accuracy in press releases: the external legal control Judges’ intervention might result in the text partly losing its communicative value: Not understandable or not relevant headings (see press release Schrems) Lengthy sentences and excessive use of legal terminology Useless references to legal acts Decrease of coherence of text

Grasping the problem The Court also simplifies questions from national judges We can quote in press release information from judgment in a different order than how it appears in ruling We never speak about the AG’s Opinion in a press release on judgment

Information on procedure and impacts What is a reference for a preliminary ruling? Can the ruling be appealed? What is the role of a General Advocate? Consequences of judgments explained in the main text of press release (see press release Schrems)

Explanatory documents to accompany a press release On different procedures (e.g. expedited procedure, sanctions procedures against Member States) On different areas of case-law (protection of airline passengers or borrowers of credit)

Our Twitter accounts Official way of communication Our tweets are derived from titles of press releases They convey our main message without focusing on hows and whys Minor inaccuracies are tolerable Are not approved by judges

Thank you for your attention!