The Court of Justice of the European Communities

Introduction It is the responsibility of the Court of Justice to ensure that the Treaties are followed. It is also responsible for ensuring that the laws and rules made under the Treaties are followed.

Court of First Instance The Court of Justice is assisted by the Court of First Instance. This court was established in Its main task is to deal with actions brought by individuals against decisions of the Community institutions.

The Judges of the Court of Justice There 27 Judges, one of whom is elected by the others to be President. The judges are selected by general agreement among the member states for a renewable term of 6 years.

Advocates-General There are also 8 Advocates-General. Advocate-generals are lawyers appointed to assist the Court and its judges. Their purpose is to research the law and present an independent opinion to the Court on any case brought before it.

Chambers The Court sits in groups known as Chambers, with each Chamber comprising 3 or 5 Judges. Sometimes all judges might sit in an important case. If all the judges sit it is referred to as a ‘plenary session’.

Six Types of Case Heard Actions for failure to fulfil Treaty obligations Actions for annulment Actions for failure to act Preliminary rulings on European Law Appeals against judgments of the Court of First Instance.

Actions for failure to fulfil Treaty obligations. These actions are brought by the Commission against a Member State or by a Member State against another Member State. The grounds of the action are that one of the member states has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Treaties.

Actions for annulment This action can be brought by any of the institutions, member states or in some cases individuals. The action asks the judges to review the legality of a European law or rule which might be against one of the Treaties.

Actions for failure to act This action can be brought against the Parliament, Council or Commission on the grounds that it has failed to do something that it should have done under the Treaties.

Preliminary rulings on EC law The Court can be asked by a national court to provide an interpretation of Community law. The Court will provide a ruling which the national court can use to decide a case.

Appeals It hears appeals against judgments of the Court of First Instance

Procedure: Preliminary Hearings 1. The national court submits questions concerning the interpretation or validity of a provision of European law. 2.A Judge-Rapporteur and an Advocate- General are appointed. [The Judge- Rapporteur is one of the judges of the court.]

Procedure: Preliminary Hearings 3.The parties, the Member States and the Community institutions submit their written observations to the Court. 4.The Judge-Rapporteur makes a report for the court which summarises the facts of the case and the legal argument of the different parties.

Procedure: Preliminary Hearings 5. The case is then argued at a public hearing before the judges and the appointed advocate general. 6. Some weeks later the advocate general delivers his Opinion to the Court. He/she analyses the facts and the legal issues of the case and proposes a solution to the problem.

Procedure: Preliminary Hearings 7. The judges deliberate on the case using a draft judgment drawn up by the Judge-Rapporteur. Each of the judges may propose amendments. 8. When a final text has been agreed upon, judgment is given in open court.

Procedure: Direct Actions The procedure for direct actions follows much the same procedure as for preliminary rulings. The action is brought before the Court by a written application sent to the Court Registry by a lawyer.

Discussion To what extent does the work of the Court of Justice differ from that of the House of Lords? [Consider both the types of case heard and their methods of operation.]