European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice, officially the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union 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.
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 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". It became an institution of two additional Communities in 1957 when the European Economic Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community 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 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.
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 states 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. He also assigns cases to the chambers for examination and appoints judge as rapporteurs called Judge-Rapporteur. 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.| 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 are consequently 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. 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. 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, 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. 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.