The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union (EU) in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its uniform application across all EU member states under Article 263 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
The Court was established in 1952, and is based in Luxembourg. It is composed of one judge per member state – currently – although it normally hears cases in panels of three, five or fifteen judges. The Court has been led by President Koen Lenaerts since 2015.
The ECJ is the highest court of the European Union in matters of Union law, but not national law. It is not possible to appeal against the decisions of national courts in the ECJ, but rather national courts refer questions of EU law to the ECJ. However, it is ultimately for the national court to apply the resulting interpretation to the facts of any given case, although only courts of final appeal are bound to refer a question of EU law when one is addressed. The treaties give the ECJ the power for consistent application of EU law across the EU as a whole.
The court also acts as an administrative and constitutional court between the other EU institutions and the member states and can annul or invalidate unlawful acts of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.
History
The court was established in 1952, by the Treaty of Paris (1951) as part of the European Coal and Steel Community. It was established with seven judges, allowing both representation of each of the six member states and being an odd number of judges in case of a tie. One judge was appointed from each member state and the seventh seat rotated between the "large Member States" (West Germany, France and Italy). It became an institution of two additional Communities in 1957 when the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) were created, sharing the same courts with the European Coal and Steel Community.
The Maastricht Treaty was ratified in 1993, and created the European Union. The name of the Court did not change unlike the other institutions. The power of the Court resided in the Community pillar (the first pillar).
The Court gained power in 1997, with the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty. Issues from the third pillar were transferred to the first pillar. Previously, these issues were settled between the member states.
Following the entrance into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the ECJ's official name was changed from the "Court of Justice of the European Communities" to the "Court of Justice" although in English it is still most common to refer to the Court as the European Court of Justice. The Court of First Instance was renamed as the "General Court", and the term "Court of Justice of the European Union" now officially designates the two courts, as along with its specialised tribunals, taken together.See SCADPlus: The Institutions of the Union and article 2.3n of the Draft Reform Treaty of 23 July 2007
Composition
Judges The Court of Justice consists of Judges who are assisted by 11 advocates-general. The judges and advocates-general are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member statesArticle 253 (ex Article 223) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. and hold office for a renewable term of six years. The treaties require that they are chosen from legal experts whose independence is "beyond doubt" and who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices in their respective countries or who are of recognised competence. In practice, each member state nominates a judge whose nomination is then ratified by all other member states.
President The president of the Court of Justice is elected from and by the judges for a renewable term of three years. The president presides over hearings and deliberations, directing both judicial business and administration (for example, the time table of the Court and Grand Chamber). He also assigns cases to the chambers for examination and appoints judge as rapporteurs called Judge-Rapporteur (reporting judges). The Council may also appoint assistant rapporteurs to assist the president in applications for interim measures and to assist rapporteurs in the performance of their duties.
President State Term 1 Massimo Pilotti 1952–1958 2 Andreas Matthias Donner 1958–1964 3 Charles Léon Hammes 1964–1967 4 Robert Lecourt 1967–1976 5 Hans Kutscher 1976–1980 6 Josse Mertens de Wilmars 1980–1984 7 John Mackenzie-Stuart 1984–1988 8 Ole Due 1988–1994 9 Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias 1994–2003 10 Vassilios Skouris 2003–2015 11 Koen Lenaerts 2015–present
Vice-President The post of vice-president was created by amendments to the Statute of the Court of Justice in 2012. The duty of the vice-president is to assist the president in the performance of his duties and to take the president's place when the latter is prevented from attending or when the office of president is vacant. In 2012, judge Koen Lenaerts from Belgium became the first judge to carry out the duties of the vice-president of the Court of Justice. Like the president of the Court of Justice, the vice-president is elected by the members of the Court for a term of three years.Under Article 9a of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union: The Judges shall elect the President and the Vice-President of the Court of Justice from among their number for a term of three years.
Vice-President State Term 1 Koen Lenaerts 2012–2015 2 Antonio Tizzano 2015–2018 3 Rosario Silva de Lapuerta 2018–2021 4 Lars Bay Larsen 2021–2024 5 Thomas von Danwitz 2024–present
Advocates general
The judges are assisted by eleven advocates general, whose number may be increased by the Council if the Court so requests. The advocates general are responsible for presenting a legal opinion on the cases assigned to them. They can question the parties involved and then give their opinion on a legal solution to the case before the judges deliberate and deliver their judgment. The intention behind having advocates general attached is to provide independent and impartial opinions concerning the Court's cases. Unlike the Court's judgments, the written opinions of the advocates general are the works of a single author and so they are generally more readable and deal with the legal issues more comprehensively than the Court, which is limited to the particular matters at hand.
The opinions of the advocates general are advisory and do not bind the Court, but they are nonetheless very influential and are followed in the majority of cases.Craig and de Búrca, page 70. In a 2016 study, Arrebola and Mauricio measured the influence of the advocate general on the judgments of the Court, showing that the Court is approximately 67% more likely to deliver a particular outcome if that was the opinion of the advocate general.Arrebola, Carlos and Mauricio, Ana Julia and Jiménez Portilla, Héctor, An Econometric Analysis of the Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice of the European Union (January 12, 2016). Cambridge Journal of Comparative and International Law, Vol. 5, No. 1, Forthcoming; University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 3/2016. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2714259 As of 2003, advocates general are only required to give an opinion if the Court considers the case raises a new point of law.
According to Article 255 TFEU the judges and advocates-general are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states after consultation of a panel responsible for assessing candidates’ suitability.
The registrar The registrar is the Court's chief administrator. They manage departments under the authority of the Court's president. The Court may also appoint one or more Assistant Registrars. They help the Court, the Chambers, the president and the judges in all their official functions. They are responsible for the Registry as well as for the receipt, transmission and custody of documents and pleadings that have been entered in a register initialled by the president. They are Guardian of the Seals and responsible for the Court's archives and publications.
The registrar is responsible for the administration of the Court, its financial management and its accounts. The operation of the Court is in the hands of officials and other servants who are responsible to the registrar under the authority of the president. The Court administers its own infrastructure; this includes the Translation Directorate, which, employed 44.7% of the staff of the institution.
Chambers The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of fifteen judges (including the president and vice-president), or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sittings are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges.As can be seen from the decline in cases pending before the full court: Each chamber elects its own president who is elected for a term of three years in the case of the five-judge chambers or one year in the case of three-judge chambers.
The Court is required to sit in full court in exceptional cases provided for in the treaties. The court may also decide to sit in full, if the issues raised are considered to be of exceptional importance. Sitting as a Grand Chamber is more common and can happen when a member state or a Union institution, that is a party to certain proceedings, so requests, or in particularly complex or important cases. The main added value of using the full Court or Grand Chamber lies in enhancing the legitimacy of the ECJ’s rulings by ensuring that they reflect the collective view of all—or at least the majority—of the Court’s judges.
The court acts as a collegial body: decisions are those of the court rather than of individual judges; no minority opinions are given and indeed the existence of a majority decision rather than unanimity is never suggested.Craig and de Búrca, page 95.
Jurisdiction and powers
It is the responsibility of the Court of Justice to ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties of the European Union. To enable it to carry out its duties, the Court has broad jurisdiction to hear various types of action. The Court has competence to, amongst other actions, rule on applications for annulment or actions for failure to act brought by a Member State or an institution; take actions against Member States for failure to fulfil obligations; and hear references for a preliminary ruling and appeals against decisions of the General Court.
Actions for failure to fulfil obligations: infringement procedure Under Article 258 (ex Article 226) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Court of Justice may determine whether a Member State has fulfilled its obligations under Union law.
That action may be brought by the commission – as is practically always the case – or by another member state, although the cases of the latter kind remain extremely rare. Only six interstate cases have been decided by the court:First four mentioned in Press release of the Court after the Hungary v. Slovakia judgement, note 2. Fifth added in Opinion of the Meijers Committee on interstate procedures and the rule of law, 06 November 2019 France v. United Kingdom (case C-141/78), judgement of 14 October 1979 () on a British unilateral fishery protection measure, infringement because UK had to consult and seek approval of commission Belgium v. Spain (case C-388/95), judgement of 16 May 2000 () on a Spanish regulation ordering wine to be bottled in the region of production if it is using the designation of origin, no infringement because it is an authorised and justifiable restriction on the free movement of goods