Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:1998:104
Date: 1998-03-12
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: External relations;Social security for migrant workers
Concepts: Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling - decision unnecessary
Origin: France

Summary of the J u d g m e n t 
Preliminary rulings — Jurisdiction of the Court — Case pending before the national court ren­
dered devoid of purpose — No need to give a ruling 
(EC Treaty, Art. 177) 
It is clear from both the wording and the 
scheme of Article 177 of the Treaty that a 
national court or tribunal is not empowered 
to bring a matter before the Court of Justice 
by way of a reference for a preliminary 
ruling unless a case is pending before it, in 
which it is called upon to give a decision 
which is capable of taking account of the 
preliminary ruling. The justification for a 
preliminary reference is not that it enables 
advisory opinions on general or hypothetical 
questions to be delivered but rather that it is 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-314/96 
necessary for the effective resolution of a dis­
pute. 
Accordingly, there is no need for the Court 
to reply to a question referred where the 
claims of the applicant in the main proceed­
ings have been satisfied in full, with the 
result that the case pending before the 
national court has no purpose and that any 
reply to the question referred would be of 
no avail to that court. 
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