Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the European Union

KEY POINTS

The Court of Justice is one of two courts comprising the Court of Justice of the European Union, the judicial institution of the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community. The second court is the General Court. Their mission is to ensure the law is complied with in the interpretation and implementation of the treaties by monitoring the legality of EU acts.

Organisation of the Court

The Court is organised as follows.

• Composition. It comprises 27 judges and 11 advocates general, appointed for 6 years. The tasks of the advocates general are to attend the Court and present legal opinions. The judges elect the President of the Court and the vice-president for a term of 3 years. The president is responsible for representing the Court and managing its work programme and is assisted by the vice-president.
• Constitution of chambers and designation of the judge-rapporteurs. The Court sets up chambers of five judges, the president of which is elected for 3 years, and chambers of three judges, the president of which is elected for 1 year. The President of the Court designates a judge-rapporteur to deal with a case, while an advocate general is designated by the first advocate general. If necessary, the Court may appoint assistant rapporteurs.
• Role of the registrar. The Court appoints a registrar for a term of 6 years. The registrar is responsible for the acceptance, transmission and custody of all documents, and for the records. In addition, the registrar assists the members of the Court and is in charge of the Court’s publications. Lastly, the registrar directs the services of the Court under the authority of the President of the Court.
• Working of the Court. Cases are assigned to the full Court, the Grand Chamber or a chamber of five or three judges. The number of judges dealing with a case depends on its importance and complexity. Most cases are handled by five judges, and it is very rare for the whole Court to hear the case. Several cases may be heard and determined together by the same formation of the Court. The deliberations of the Court must remain secret.
• Languages. A language is assigned for each case. In direct actions, the applicant may choose the language from the 24 official EU languages. In preliminary ruling proceedings, the language of the case is that of the national court or tribunal.

Characteristics of proceedings

In general, proceedings before the Court comprise the following phases.

• Written proceedings. This phase involves an exchange of pleadings between the parties. The pleadings must have clearly defined content. Once the procedure is closed, a preliminary report is presented by the judge-rapporteur to the general meeting of the Court.
• Measures of inquiry. The Court may decide to hold measures of inquiry such as the personal appearance of the parties, requests for information and documents, oral testimony, the commissioning of an expert’s report and an inspection of the place or thing in question.
• Hearings. A hearing may take place, if necessary. The hearing is opened and directed by the president. The hearing may take place in private (in camera).
• Broadcasting of hearings. A new framework for broadcasting hearings of oral arguments and the delivery of judgments or opinions has been implemented, allowing certain proceedings to be broadcast online following specific conditions and data protection measures.
• Opinion of the advocate general. In approximately half of all cases, the advocate general delivers an opinion. If the case raises no new points of law, the Court may decide that an opinion is not necessary.
• The final decision. The Court decides by judgment or by order. Only the judgment is delivered in open court. Judgments and orders contain different information, such as a summary of the facts and the grounds for the decision. A copy is then distributed to each of the parties. Judgments and orders are available on the Court’s website.

References for a preliminary hearing

National courts may submit a reference for a preliminary hearing before the Court in order to question the interpretation of EU law. As part of a reference for a preliminary hearing, observations may be made by, in particular:

• the parties to the main proceedings;
• the EU Member States;
• the European Commission;
• the institution that adopted the act, the validity or interpretation of which is in dispute.

The 2024 amendments to the rules aim to lighten the workload of the Court. They take account of the transfer to the General Court of the jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings, as of 1 October 2024, in the following six areas:

• the common system of value added tax;
• excise duties;
• the Customs Code;
• the tariff classification of goods under the Combined Nomenclature;
• compensation and assistance for passengers whose transport services are delayed or cancelled or who are denied boarding;
• the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

The revised rules include provisions of the initial processing of requests for preliminary rulings. These will continue to be submitted to the Court of Justice so that it can decide whether the request is to be transmitted to the General Court. The European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Central Bank are notified of all requests for a preliminary ruling to allow them to assess whether they have a particular interest in the matter and decide whether they wish to exercise their right to submit statements of case or written observations.

The Court has also amended its Practice directions to parties, which inform agents and lawyers of changes regarding, for example, the protection of personal data (e.g. by anonymisation or omission) or the handling of appeals.