1. Specific Features of the EU Court System Florence Giorgi

2. Today's Topics 1.What the ECJ is and what it does 2.The variety of its case law 3.How it works 4.Its multilingual character 5.The Advocate General

3. 1. The ECJ

4. The ECJ as an EU Institution and the ECJ as a Court

5. Historical Perspective

6. Some Basic Facts on the ECJ Its seat Its composition How its members are chosen

7. 2. The work of the ECJ

8. What’s this (C-524/11)? A blanket? An item of clothing?

9. Is being the son of your father a sufficient reason to freeze your funds (C-376/10P) ?

10. Brussels versus Strasbourg

11. 3. How the ECJ works

12. Main Types of Proceedings Action for failure to fulfil obligations Action for annulment Action for failure to act Reference for preliminary ruling

13. Standard Procedure

14. Special Procedures Expedited procedure Urgent preliminary rulings (PPU)

15. 4. The Multilingual Character of the ECJ

16. Language Arrangements 23 official languages Language of the case Working language of the ECJ

17. 5. The Advocate General

18. The Advocates general How they are chosen Where they come from (The "5+3" system) Comparison with the judges What they do

19. The AG Opinion What is it? What is it for?

20. THANK YOU! florence.giorgi@curia.europa.eu