Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2002:548
Date: 2002-09-26
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Provisions governing the Institutions;Access to documents
Procedure: Action for annulment;Appeal - successful
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgment 
Procedure — Time-limits for bringing proceedings — Time-barred — Excusable 
error — Meaning —• Scope 
I - 4837 
SUMMARY — CASE C-193/01 P 
Full knowledge of the finality of a decision 
and of the time-limit for bringing an action 
under Article 230 EC does not, in itself, 
prevent an individual from pleading excus­
able error to justify his application being 
out of time since such an error may occur, 
in particular, when the conduct of the 
institution concerned has been, either alone 
or to a decisive extent, such as to give rise 
to pardonable confusion in the mind of a 
party acting in good faith and exercising all 
the diligence required of a normally well-
informed person. If those conditions are 
met, it cannot be ruled out in principle that 
the error may have a bearing on factors 
other than the finality or otherwise of the 
contested decision or the detailed rules and 
procedures for bringing the various types of 
action provided for in the Treaty. 
(see paras 24-25) 
I-4838