The European Court of Justice

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The European Court of Justice
Lecture 7
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Objective

• be familiar with the Treaty basis of the legal
  structure of the EU
• understand the important role of the European
  Court of Justice in advancing the integration
  process

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Introduction

• Different legal traditions in Europe
• national laws with Community origins in
• employment law
• environmental law
• consumer protection
• free movement of goods
• free movement of services, etc. 

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International Courts

• International Court of Justice (ICJ), The Hague,
  principal judicial organ of the United Nations
• International Criminal Court (Rome Statute)
• International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
• International Criminal Tribunal for the former
  Yugoslavia
• International Criminal Tribunal for Ruanda
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• (New) European Court of Human Rights (European
  Charta of Human Rights, Council of Europe)
• EFTA Court

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Comparison

• International Law
• International law can be replaced by national law
• Decisions only binding signatory member states
  (governments)
• Enforcement sanctions, intervention

• Supranational Law
• supremacy of EC law
• decisions are binding citizens (not only
  governments)
• Enforcement fines

Court ruled that EC law is supranational !
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TEU Art 1- 7
CFSP
Judicial and Police
EC Euratom
Schengen
Visa, Asylum, Immigration
TEU Art 43- 53
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Legal System of EU
Instruments Primary and secondary law
Regulations - free standing and directly
applicable Directives - equal in
effect Decisions - specifically
targeted Recommendations and Opinions
EC/EU Treaties and amendments

• Acquis Communautaire entire body or primary and
  seconday legislation in EC since founding
• cannot be negotiated away (irrevocable)

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The ECJ and Integration

• Represents central judicial authority
• Establishment of supremacy of EC law
• ECJ has acted in pro-integrationist manner
• Supreme Court?
• Constitutional Court?

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Functions

• to ensure the legal functioning of the EU
• interpretation and application of EU law in the
  TEC and parts of the TEU (TEC, ECSC, EURATOM)
• Directly applying the law in certain types of
  case (direct action)
• Interpreting the provisions of EU law
  (preliminary rulings)

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Different roles

• (i) a constitutional court clarification of the
  rights and obligations of the European
  institutions vis-à-vis each other
• (ii) a legislative watchdog verification of the
  compatibility of secondary legislation
• (iii) an administrative court ruling on actions
  brought by natural or legal persons against EU
  measures
• (iv) a civil court establishment of
  non-contractual liability and examination of
  claims for damages
• (v) an arbitration court subject to agreement
  between two parties

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Structure of ECJ

• 25 Judges and 8 Advocates-General
• appointed by common accord of the governments of
  the member states
• hold office for a renewable term of six years
• select one of their number to be President of the
  Court for a renewable term of three years
• advocates general deliver legal opinions on the
  cases brought before the Court

Vassilios Skouris
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Court of First Instance

• Result of constantly increasing workload (1989)
• Growing competence across range of EC business
• CFI Rulings can be appealed to full ECJ

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Rulings

• Judgements are made by the majority opinions of
  its members
• Methods for Hearing cases, ECJ has 6 chambers
  (dealing with certain fields)
• Chambers of 3 Judges, in general
• Chambers of 5 Judges, important case or new field
• Plenary Sessions / Grand Chamber (25/13) VIP
  cases, when MS or EU-institution is involved

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Competences and Tasks

• member-state infringements of treaty obligations
  (Failure to fulfil an obligation)
• unlawful acts by the Council or the Commission
• failure of EU institutions to act
• Opinions on international agreements
• preliminary rulings (most cases)
• 1.Disputes between individuals or corporate
  bodies and the Community
• 2. Court is called to give a judgment in a
  dispute between two parties

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Types of Cases

• Disputes between Member States
• Disputes between EC and Member States
• Disputes between the EC institutions
• Disputes between individuals or corporate bodies
  and the Community (including staff cases)
• Opinions on international agreements
• Preliminary rulings on cases referred by national
  courts

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Rulings on the Powers of the Institutions
Roquette v. Council (1980) (the Isoglucose
case) Case 138/79 Consultation no formality
Parti Écologiste, Les Verts v. Parliament
(1986). Case 294/83 EP can be brought to
court European Parliament v. Council (1988) (the
Comitology case). Case 302/87 no provisions in
the treaties - EP granted standing
anyway European Parliament v. Council (1990) (the
Chernobyl case). Case C-70/88 EP may challenge
act adopted by other institutions

• EP has been a major beneficiary
• Court has occasionally found against EP, but has
  also reversed these decisions subsequently
• Court has used principle of institutional
  balance to extend EPs prerogatives

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Rulings on Nature of EC Law
Van Gend en Loos (1963). Case 26/62 Costa v. ENEL
(1964). Case 6/64 Van Duyn v. Home Office (1974).
Case 41/74 R. v. Secretary of State for
Transport, ex parte Factortame (1991). Case
C-221/89 Francovich v. Italy (1991). Cases C-6,
9/90

• direct effect and supremacy of EC law
  established
• in early cases and subsequently reaffirmed

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Supremacy
Case 6/64, Flaminio Costa, 15 July 1964, 1964
ECR 585

• By contrast with ordinary international treaties,
  the EEC Treaty has created its own legal system
  which, on the entry into force of the Treaty,
  became an integral part of the legal systems of
  the Member States and which their courts are
  bound to apply.
• By creating a Community the Member States have
  limited their sovereign rights, albeit within
  limited fields, and have thus created a body of
  law which binds both their nationals and
  themselves
• The obligations undertaken under the Treaty
  establishing the Community would not be
  unconditional, but merely contingent, if they
  could be called in question by subsequent
  legislative acts of the signatories. Objective of
  the EEC Treaty is to establish a Common Market,
  the functioning of which is of direct concern to
  interested parties in the Community

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Rulings on the common market

• principle of mutual recognition of standards
• Cassis de Dijon (1979)
• Purity Requirements for Beer (1984)
• Free movement of employed workers
• Bosman (1993)

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European Court and National Courts

• National supreme courts not always sympathetic
• British Law Lords have preserved formal
  Sovereignty of Parliament
• German Constitutional Court
• will refrain from checking EU legislation
• as long as it considers the protection of Basic
  Rights by ECJ adequate
• Somewhat uneasy relationship, does not generally
  accept superiority of ECJ or the European Court
  of Human Rights

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Workload

• 2003
• 494 cases completed
• new cases
• 974 pending cases

Average time for a preliminary ruling 27 months
Pending cases
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Integration by law?
ECJ has little or no independent influence it
is an obedient agent of its principles (Moravcsik
1995)
ECJ has been the principle promoter of European
integration (Mancini 1992)

• Political reactions
• ECJ accused of stepping beyond its legal role and
  behaving politically (in dubio pro communitate)
• in anti-integrationist mood of 1990s increasingly
  criticised by member states
• reflected in inclusion of subsidiarity clause
  in TEU
• at same time acceptance of importance of
  impartial role of ECJ

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Future for ECJ Solutions

• Simplifying Court procedures
• Speed up hearing of urgent cases
• Develop filter system to reduce appeals from
  Court of First Instance
• Establishment of different methods to deal with
  Staff cases (European Union Civil Service
  Tribunal since Dec. 2005)
• Methods to ensure that requests for preliminary
  rulings are handled quickly

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Class questions

• What is supranational law?
• In what sense can the Court of Justice be seen as
• A policy making institution?
• A (political) force for European integration?