Order — ECLI:EU:C:2010:16
Date: 2010-01-14
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Competition
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - unfounded
Origin: Spain

Summary of the Order Procedure – Time-limit for instituting proceedings – Claim barred by lapse of time – Excusable error – Concept – Meaning In the context of the Community rules on time-limits for instituting proceedings, the concept of excusable error justifying a derogation from those rules can concern only exceptional circumstances in which, in particular, the conduct of the institution concerned has been, either alone or to a decisive extent, such as to give rise to a pardonable confusion in the mind of a party acting in good faith and displaying all the diligence required of a normally well-informed person. The institution concerned is the one which adopted the contested measure. An excusable error can also be the result of the conduct of the court itself, which gives rise to confusion in the mind of the party concerned. Furthermore, with regard to the time-limits for instituting proceedings before the General Court, Article 101(1)(a) and (b) of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court are clear and present no particular difficulty of interpretation. There was therefore no need for a normally well-informed person, when applying that provision, to have recourse to an interpretation made by another institution of any similar provision, such as Article 3 of Regulation No 1182/71 determining the rules applicable to periods, dates and time limits. In addition, since it is not part of the duties and powers of the officials of the Registry of the General Court to express an opinion on the calculation of the time-limit for the commencement of an action, an applicant cannot reasonably argue that, having sought confirmation from the Registry of the General Court that its calculation of the time-limits was correct, it had displayed all the diligence required of a normally well-informed person. (see paras 20, 22, 24, 27, 29)