General Court (European Union)

Court of Justice of the European Union
General Court
Court of Justice of the European Union; General Court
	Emblem of the Court of Justice of the European Union
Established	1989
Jurisdiction	European Union and Northern Ireland
Location	Palais de la Cour de Justice, Kirchberg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Authorized by	Treaties of the European Union
Appeals to	European Court of Justice
Number of positions	54 judges (2 per member state); 5 vacant
Website	curia.europa.eu
President
Currently	Marc van der Woude
Since	27 September 2019
Vice-President
Currently
Since	27 September 2019
Registrar
Currently
Since	6 October 2005
Division map

The General Court, informally known as the European General Court (EGC), is a constituent court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of the European Union by individuals and member states, although certain matters are reserved for the European Court of Justice. Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice, but only on a point of law. Prior to the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, it was known as the Court of First Instance.

Competence[]

The General Court hears disputes (such as those by persons who have been refused a trade mark by EUIPO, the EU Trade Mark and designs registry).

The creation of the General Court instituted a judicial system based on two levels of jurisdiction: all cases heard at first instance by the General Court may be subject to a right of appeal to the Court of Justice on points of law only.

In view of the increasing number of cases brought before the General Court in the last five years, to relieve it of some of the caseload, the Treaty of Nice, which entered into force on 1 February 2003, provides for the creation of 'judicial panels' in certain specific areas.

On 2 November 2004 the Council adopted a decision establishing the European Union Civil Service Tribunal. This new specialised tribunal, composed of seven judges, heard and determined at first instance disputes involving the European Civil Service. Its decisions were subject to a right of appeal before the General Court on points of law only. Decisions given by the General Court in this area might exceptionally be subject to review by the Court of Justice. The European Union Civil Service Tribunal was duly constituted into law on 2 December 2005. Despite the success in its mandate,^[2] it was dissolved on 1 September 2016,^[3] leading to the doubling of the number of judges at the General Court.^[3]

Composition[]

Since February 2020 the General Court is composed of 54 Judges; this follows a 2016 reform which increased the number of judges to two per member state by 2019, and the departure of the UK from the EU at the end of January 2020. The Judges are appointed for a renewable term of six years by common accord of the governments of the Member States. As of February 2020, there are 49 Judges in post: 23 member states have nominated both their judges, whilst Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia have nominated just one, and Slovenia has nominated neither.

The members of the General Court elect their president and the presidents of the Chambers of five Judges from among their number for a renewable period of three years.

There are no permanent Advocates General attached to the General Court (unlike the European Court of Justice, which has eleven Advocates General). However, the task of an Advocate General may be performed in a limited number of cases by a Judge nominated to do so. In practice this has been done occasionally.

List of presidents[]

Elected	Term ended	Judge
25 September 1989	18 September 1995
18 September 1995	4 March 1998	Antonio Saggio
4 March 1998	17 September 2007	Bo Vesterdorf
17 September 2007	26 September 2019	Marc Jaeger
27 September 2019	Incumbent	Marc van der Woude

List of vice-presidents[]

Elected	Term ended	Judge
17 September 2013	19 September 2016
20 September 2016	26 September 2019	Marc van der Woude
27 September 2019	Incumbent

List of judges[]

Name	Country	Elected	Current term ends	hideOther
	Austria	2013	2022
	Austria	2019	2022
Paul Nihoul	Belgium	2016	2022
	Belgium	2017	2022
Mariyana Kancheva	Bulgaria	2011	2025^[4]
	Bulgaria	2016	2025^[4]	President of the Tenth Chamber
	Croatia	2013	2025^[5]	President of the Second Chamber
	Croatia	2019	2025^[5]
	Cyprus	2004	2022	Vice-President of the General Court (2019-2022)
Anna Marcoulli	Cyprus	2016	2022	President of the Sixth Chamber
	Czech Republic	2019	2025
	Czech Republic	2021	2025
	Denmark	2007	2022
	Denmark	2016	2022	President of the Eighth Chamber
	Estonia	2013	2022
	Estonia	2019^[5]	2022^[5]
	Finland	2009	2022	President of the First Chamber Vice-President of the General Court (2013-2016)
	Finland	2019^[5]	2022^[5]
	France	2013	2025^[4]	President of the Fourth Chamber
	France	2019^[4]	2025^[4]	Judge (2007-2013)
	Germany	2019	2025
	Germany	2019	2025^[5]
	Greece	2010	2022
	Greece	2016	2022
TBA	Hungary
	Hungary	2016	2022
Anthony M. Collins	Ireland	2013	2025^[5]	President of the Third Chamber
Colm Mac Eochaidh	Ireland	2017	2025^[5]
	Italy	2019	2025
	Italy	2019	2025
TBA	Latvia
	Latvia	2016	2025^[4]
	Lithuania	2019	2025
	Lithuania	2016	2019*
Marc Jaeger	Luxembourg	1996	2022	President of the General Court (2007-2019)
Dean Spielmann	Luxembourg	2016	2022	President of the Fifth Chamber
Eugène Buttigieg	Malta	2012	2025
	Malta	2019	2025
Marc van der Woude	Netherlands	2010	2022	President of the General Court (2019-2022) Vice-President of the General Court (2016-2019)
René Barents	Netherlands	2016	2022
	Poland	2016	2022
	Poland	2016	2016*
	Romania	2016	2022
	Romania	2019^[4]	2022^[4]
	Portugal	2016	2022	President of the Seventh Chamber
	Portugal	2016	2022	President of the Ninth Chamber
	Slovakia	2009	2022
TBA	Slovakia
TBA	Slovenia
TBA	Slovenia
José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares	Spain	2019	2025
	Spain	2019	2025
	Sweden	2016	2025^[4]
	Sweden	2016	2025^[4]

* Judge continues to hold the office until their successor takes up the duties according to the Article 5(3) of the Protocol No. 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU

List of former judges[]

Name	Country	Elected	Term ended	hideRef.
	Austria	19 January 1995	16 September 2013	^[6]
Koen Lenaerts	Belgium	25 September 1989	6 October 2003	^[7]
	Belgium	6 October 2003	19 September 2016	^[7]
Teodor Tchipev	Bulgaria	12 January 2007	29 June 2010	^[8]
	Czech Republic	12 May 2004	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Czech Republic	19 September 2016	6 October 2020	^[9]
Bo Versterdorf	Denmark	25 September 1989	17 September 2007	^[7]
Küllike Jürimäe	Estonia	12 May 2004	23 October 2013	^[7]
	Finland	8 January 1995	6 October 2009	^[7]
	France	25 September 1989	18 September 1995	^[7]
André Potocki	France	18 September 1995	19 September 2001	^[7]
	France	19 September 2001	17 September 2007	^[7]
	Germany	25 September 1989	6 February 1997	^[7]
	Germany	11 June 1997	17 September 2007	^[7]
	Germany	17 September 2007	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Greece	25 September 1989	18 September 1992	^[7]
	Greece	18 September 1992	17 September 1998	^[7]
	Greece	17 September 1998	25 October 2010	^[7]
	Hungary	12 May 2004	19 September 2016	^[7]
	Hungary	19 September 2016	2 August 2021	^[10]
	Ireland	25 September 1989	10 January 1996	^[7]
	Ireland	10 January 1996	15 September 2008	^[7]
Kevin O'Higgins	Ireland	15 September 2008	16 September 2013	^[7]
Antonio Saggio	Italy	25 September 1989	4 March 1998	^[7]
	Italy	4 March 1998	3 May 2006	^[7]
Enzo Moavero Milanesi	Italy	3 May 2006	15 November 2011	^[7]
	Italy	17 September 2012	31 August 2019	^[7]
	Italy	19 September 2016	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Latvia	12 May 2004	25 February 2020
Vilenas Vadapalas	Lithuania	12 May 2004	16 September 2013	^[7]
	Lithuania	16 September 2013	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Luxembourg	25 September 1989	11 July 1996	^[7]
Ena Cremona	Malta	12 May 2004	22 March 2012	^[8]
	Malta	6 June 2016	8 October 2018	^[7]
	Netherlands	25 September 1989	17 September 1998	^[7]
	Netherlands	17 September 1998	13 September 2010	^[8]
	Poland	15 May 2004	19 September 2016	^[6]
	Poland	13 April 2016	31 August 2016	^[6]
	Portugal	25 September 1989	18 September 1995	^[6]
	Portugal	19 September 1995	31 March 2003	^[6]
Maria Eguénia Martins De Nazaré Ribeiro	Portugal	31 March 2003	19 September 2016	^[6]
	Romania	12 January 2007	26 November 2010	^[8]
Andrei Popescu	Romania	26 November 2010	19 September 2016	^[6]
	Slovakia	21 May 2004	6 October 2010	^[8]
Verica Trstenjak	Slovenia	7 July 2004	6 October 2006	^[6]
	Slovenia	6 October 2006	26 September 2019	^[6]
	Spain	25 September 1989	17 September 2007	^[7]
	Spain	17 September 2007	16 September 2013	^[7]
Ignacio Ulloa Rubio	Spain	16 September 2013	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Spain	13 April 2016	26 September 2019	^[7]
	Sweden	18 January 1995	6 October 2006	^[6]
	Sweden	6 October 2006	28 November 2012	^[6]
	Sweden	18 March 2013	19 September 2016	^[6]
Former Member State
David A. O. Edward	United Kingdom	25 September 1989	10 March 1992	^[6]
Christopher William Bellamy	United Kingdom	10 March 1992	15 December 1999	^[6]
Nicholas James Forwood	United Kingdom	15 December 1999	7 October 2015	^[6]
Ian Stewart Forrester	United Kingdom	1 October 2015	31 January 2020

List of registrars[]

Elected	Term ended	Judge
27 September 1989	6 October 2005
6 October 2005	Incumbent (until at least 5 October 2023)

Jurisdiction[]

The General Court, like the Court of Justice, has the task of ensuring that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of the Treaties of the European Union and the provisions adopted by the competent Union institutions.

To fulfil its main task, the General Court has jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance all direct actions brought by individuals and the Member States, with the exception of those to be assigned to a 'judicial panel' and those reserved for the Court of Justice.

Categories of direct actions[]

Actions for annulment

(against acts of the Union institutions)

Actions for failure to act

(against inaction by the Union institutions)

Actions for damages

(for the reparation of damage caused by unlawful conduct on the part of a Union institution)

Actions based on an arbitration clause

(disputes concerning contracts in public or private law entered into by the Union, containing such a clause)

Actions concerning the civil service – As of 2006 these cases were transferred to the new Civil Service Tribunal

(disputes between the Union and its officials and other servants)

Subject-matter of direct actions: all matters, including:

agriculture
State aid
competition
commercial policy
regional policy
social policy
institutional law
trade mark and design right law
transport

Procedure[]

The General Court has its own Rules of Procedure. As a rule, the Court's procedure includes a written phase and an oral phase. The proceedings are conducted in a language at the petitioner's choosing. As in the European Court of Justice, the working language of the Court is nevertheless French, and this includes the language the judges deliberate in and the drafting language of preliminary reports and judgments.^[11]

The Court is separated into 9 divisions (called ‘chambers’) sat by 3-judge benches, except for the 7th division whose bench is sat by 4 judges. Each chamber has an extended composition of 5 judges. Cases are assigned by the President of the Court to a relevant divisional presiding judge. The presiding judge assigned to the case then chooses a judge-reporter (judge-rapporteur) from the judges of the division, whose clerks write a preliminary report (rapport préalable) based on the parties' pleadings and applicable law.

At the close of the written phase and, as the case may be, on adoption of measures of inquiry, the case is argued orally in open court. The proceedings are interpreted simultaneously, if necessary, into various official languages of the European Union. The judges then deliberate based on a draft judgment prepared by the judge-reporter. The Court's final judgment is handed down in open court.

Notes[]

^ Under the terms of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, concluded as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the CJEU — and hence the EGC — continues to have jurisdiction over the operation of EU law applying to Northern Ireland in relation to customs and the movement of goods, technical regulations, VAT and excise, the Single Electricity Market and State aid, and may hear applications for preliminary rulings made by Northern Irish courts.^[1]

References[]

^ House of Lords European Union Committee (1 June 2020). 9th Report of Session 2019–21: The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (Report). House of Lords. p. 65. Retrieved 2 January 2021. The Protocol will also confer full jurisdiction on the CJEU to oversee the operation of EU law applying to Northern Ireland in relation to customs and the movement of goods, technical regulations, VAT and excise, the Single Electricity Market and State aid; including the jurisdiction to hear applications for preliminary rulings submitted by the courts of Northern Ireland. The UK will have the right to participate in these proceedings as if it were a Member State.
^ Butler, Graham (2019). "An Interim Post-Mortem: Specialised Courts in the EU Judicial Architecture after the Civil Service Tribunal". International Organizations Law Review. 16. doi:10.1163/15723747-2019010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "REGULATION (EU, Euratom) 2016/1192 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 6 July 2016 on the transfer to the General Court of jurisdiction at first instance in disputes between the European Union and its servants". Official Journal of the European Union. 200/138. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Court of Justice of the European Union: Eleven members appointed".
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Member states' representatives appoint 14 judges to the General Court".
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "CURIA – Mandati od leta 1989 – Sodišče Evropske unije". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag "CURIA – Former Members". CVRIA. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "CURIA – Former Members". CVRIA. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
^ "EU Court of Justice: three judges and an advocate-general appointed". www.consilium.europa.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 17 December 2020.
^ "Meghalt Berke Barna, az Európai Unió Törvényszékének bírája, az Igazságügyi Minisztérium egykori államtitkára". telex (in Hungarian). 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^ Mattila, Heikki E. S. (2006). Comparative legal linguistics – Heikki E. S. Mattila – Google Boeken. ISBN 9780754648741. Retrieved 27 January 2012.

External links[]

General Court (official site)

Coordinates: 49°37′16″N 6°08′35″E / 49.6210°N 6.1431°E / 49.6210; 6.1431

[2] Under the terms of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, concluded as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the CJEU — and hence the EGC — continues to have jurisdiction over the operation of EU law applying to Northern Ireland in relation to customs and the movement of goods, technical regulations, VAT and excise, the Single Electricity Market and State aid, and may hear applications for preliminary rulings made by Northern Irish courts.^[1]

[1] House of Lords European Union Committee (1 June 2020). 9th Report of Session 2019–21: The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (Report). House of Lords. p. 65. Retrieved 2 January 2021. The Protocol will also confer full jurisdiction on the CJEU to oversee the operation of EU law applying to Northern Ireland in relation to customs and the movement of goods, technical regulations, VAT and excise, the Single Electricity Market and State aid; including the jurisdiction to hear applications for preliminary rulings submitted by the courts of Northern Ireland. The UK will have the right to participate in these proceedings as if it were a Member State.

[3] Butler, Graham (2019). "An Interim Post-Mortem: Specialised Courts in the EU Judicial Architecture after the Civil Service Tribunal". International Organizations Law Review. 16. doi:10.1163/15723747-2019010.

[TribunalDissolution-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "REGULATION (EU, Euratom) 2016/1192 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 6 July 2016 on the transfer to the General Court of jurisdiction at first instance in disputes between the European Union and its servants". Official Journal of the European Union. 200/138. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2018.

[firsreappointandreappoint-5] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Court of Justice of the European Union: Eleven members appointed".

[appointreappoint-6] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Member states' representatives appoint 14 judges to the General Court".

[:0-7] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "CURIA – Mandati od leta 1989 – Sodišče Evropske unije". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 16 January 2020.

[:1-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag "CURIA – Former Members". CVRIA. Retrieved 2 May 2010.

[CURIA_-_Former_Members-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "CURIA – Former Members". CVRIA. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

[10] "EU Court of Justice: three judges and an advocate-general appointed". www.consilium.europa.eu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 17 December 2020.

[11] "Meghalt Berke Barna, az Európai Unió Törvényszékének bírája, az Igazságügyi Minisztérium egykori államtitkára". telex (in Hungarian). 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.

[12] Mattila, Heikki E. S. (2006). Comparative legal linguistics – Heikki E. S. Mattila – Google Boeken. ISBN 9780754648741. Retrieved 27 January 2012.

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