Week Two Lecture TWO The Court of Justice of the EU, source of EU law, the jurisdiction of the Court with a focus on Preliminary Rulings The Court of Justice of the EU 1. One of the seven EU institutions recognised in Art 13 TEU a. See Arts 251-281 TFEU b. Original court was set up under the ECSC Treaty and based in Luxembourg c. Today consists of one judge from each MS so each of the 27 legal systems is represented d. Court rarely sits as a whole chamber (i.e. 27 justices) i. Grand chamber -13 judges ii. Smaller chambers of 5 or 3 judges iii. Judgments are by majority iv. Dissenting views not published v. Decisions are published e. The case can be conducted in any of the Union's official languages. The whole case will be conducted in that language. There are rules governing the selection of the language to be used in a given case. f. Assisted by 8 Advocates-General (AGs) i. Each AG has qualifications needed for appointment to the highest judicial position in their home jurisdiction ii. Appointed for terms of 6 years which may be renewed iii. Normally give opinions on those cases deemed to present new points of law iv. To present reasoned opinions on the cases 1. Publicly and impartially (Art 252 TFEU) 2. Normally on cases deemed to present new points of law 3. Court need not follow their opinions !! 4. Nevertheless opinions often well reasoned and persuasive
5. Opinions are published-good to read to explain facts and arguments often more clearly than the decision. g. General Court i. Used to be called the Court of First Instance-renamed by TOL ii. Established in 1988 to assist Court of Justice with large volume of cases iii. Often hears actions brought by private parties as well as competition law cases iv. Jurisdiction-see Art 256 TFEU v. One judge from each MS vi. NB The Court of Justice of the EU can act as a court of Appeal from the General Court under Art 256(1) TFEU on points of law only 2. Functions of the court a. Five common types of case i. Reference for a preliminary ruling ii. Actions for failure to fulfil an obligation iii. Actions for annulment iv. Actions for failure to act v. Award of damages b. Preliminary Ruling Art 267 TFEU i. If national court has questions about the interpretation of the Treaties or validity or interpretation of the acts of the institutions then it can seek a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice. ii. The Court of Justice gives advice in the form of a preliminary ruling and then the case can be referred back to the national court for decision. iii. This is an EXTREMELY important process which helps to ensure uniformity iv. We will deal with preliminary rulings in much more detail later in the course. c. Actions for failure to fulfil an obligation
i. Commission (or another MS) can start proceeding if it