The European Court of Justice

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ECJ 'scales of justice' symbol

The European Court of Justice (ECJ), like the other EU institutions, was established in the initial treaties of the 1950s.

The overriding principle of the ECJ is to make sure that EU legislation is interpreted and applied in the same way across all EU countries. For example, one of its duties is to ensure that national courts do not make different rulings on the same issue.

The ECJ also presides over the EU itself, ensuring that all institutions, Member States and individuals obey the law of the EU.

Composition of ECJ

The Court itself is made up of one judge per Member State, which means all 25 EU countries are represented. It is not often that the Court stands with a full compliment of judges, generally a 'Grand Chamber' of 13 judges handles the cases that come before the ECJ.

Eight 'advocates-general' assist the court by presenting impartial opinions on cases brought before the court. The neutrality of the judges and advocates-general is concrete. They have reached a very high position at national level and their appointment to the ECJ is by agreement between all Member states. Each serves a term of six years, which can be renewed.

A 'Court of First Instance' helps the ECJ cope with the large amount of cases that it has to deal with. This court, which is attached to the ECJ, manages cases regarding actions brought by individuals, companies and cases relating to competition law. Both the ECJ and Court of First Instance have a President, elected by their fellow judges to serve a term of three years that can be renewed.

ECJ building

Figure 1 :: European Court of Justice building

Duties of the Court

The court gives rulings on cases brought before it. The four most common types of acse are:

References for preliminary ruling

National courts are responsible for applying EU law correctly in their own country. However there is a risk that EU law maybe interpreted differently in different Member States.

To make sure this does not happen there is a 'preliminary ruling procedure', which means that if an national court is in doubt about how to interpret a piece of EU legislation they can refer the matter to the ECJ for advice.

Actions for failure to perform an obligation

Either the ECJ or another Member State may start proceedings against another Member State if they are failing to fulfil their obligations.

In either case, the ECJ investigates and gives a ruling. The offending Member State must then put correct whatever is wrong or face a fine.

Actions for annulment

If any of the Member states or institutions of the EU believe that an EU law is illegal in some way, they can ask the ECJ to annul (abolish) it. The process is called an 'action for an annulment'.

Individual citizens of the Member States can also ask for an action for annulment, if the law they are inquiring about directly or indirectly affects them as individuals of the EU.

If the ECJ finds that the law was illegal in some way, in that it was not correctly adopted or is contrary to the Treaties, the law can be pronounced void.

Actions for failure to act

Under certain circumstances a complaint can be lodged with the ECJ for an institution failing to act. If the complaint is found to be valid it will be officially recorded.

ECJ building

Figure 2 :: View of the European Court of Justice building

Organisation of the ECJ

All cases start off at the registry where specific judge and advocate-general are assigned to the case. The procedure that follows can be split into two stages: first a written and then an oral phase.

Written phase

All parties must submit written statements and the judge draws up a summary of the statements and the legal background to the case.

Oral phase

The oral phase consists of a public hearing. The number of judges present depends on the complexity of the case, but it is usual to find 13 judges presiding over a case. In each case the parties' lawyers put their side across and can be questioned by the advocate-general. The advocate-general then gives their opinion before the judges retire to make their decision.

Judgements are made by a majority and are announced at a public hearing. Decisions are published on the day the judgement is delivered.

The European Court of Auditors

Unlike the other EU institutions, the Court of Auditors (CoA) was set up in 1975.

The overriding objective of the CoA is to ensure that taxpayers to the EU get value for money. This means that the purpose of the CoA is to monitor and supervise EU funds to ensure that when they are collected from taxpayers, they are collected properly and when they are spent, they are spent legally and economically. The CoA has the power to audit any person or organisation handling EU funds.

Organisation of the CoA

The CoA has one member from each Member State, appointed by the Council for a term of six years that can be renewed. The members elect one of their colleagues as President for a term of three year, which can also be renewed.

For more information visit www.europa.eu.int/institutions/court/index_en.htm