62023TJ0038_INF
Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of 10 April 2024 –IB v EUIPO
(Case T‑38/23) (
1
)
(Civil service – Officials – Total and permanent invalidity – Refusal to resume the invalidity procedure – Article 266 TFEU – Decision adopted to give effect to a judgment of the General Court – Measures necessary to give effect to a judgment delivered in an action for annulment – Disciplinary proceedings – Removal from post – Liability)
1.
Actions brought by officials – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Obligation to adopt compliance measures – Scope – Both the operative part and the grounds of the judgment to be taken into account – Annulment of a decision to close an invalidity procedure without examining whether the invalidity is genuine – Obligation of the administration to resume that procedure
(Art. 266 TFEU)
(see paragraphs 33, 37-41, 55, 62)
2.
Officials – Sick leave – Evidence of illness – Production of a medical certificate – Assumption that an absence is valid – Rebuttal of that presumption – Conditions
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 59(1))
(see paragraphs 46-52)
3.
Actions brought by officials – Judgment annulling a measure – Effects – Obligation to adopt compliance measures – Judgment annulling a decision to close an invalidity procedure without examining whether the invalidity is genuine – Claim for payment of invalidity benefits not received
(Art. 266 TFEU)
(see paragraph 66)
4.
Actions brought by officials – Unlimited jurisdiction – Disputes of a financial character within the meaning of Article 91(1) of the Staff Regulations – Definition – Action challenging the lawfulness of a decision not to pursue an invalidity procedure – Included
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Art. 91(1))
(see paragraphs 67, 69)
5.
Actions brought by officials – Actions for damages – Annulment of the contested act not providing appropriate compensation for non-material damage – Damage related to the applicant’s state of insecurity, uncertainty and distress due to the refusal to resume an invalidity procedure in compliance with a judgment annulling a measure
(Art. 340, second para., TFEU)
(see paragraphs 70-73)
6.
Officials – Invalidity – Invalidity Committee – Composition – Appointment of doctors – Appointment of the third doctor by the Court in the context of legal proceedings – Not permissible
(Staff Regulations of Officials, Annex II, Art. 7(3))
(see paragraph 78)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Annuls the decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 11 April 2022 giving effect to the judgment of 13 October 2021, IB v EUIPO (T‑22/20);
2.
Orders EUIPO to pay IB the sum of EUR 4000 in respect of the non-material damage suffered;
3.
Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
4.
Orders EUIPO to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by IB, and to refund to the Court cashier the sums advanced by way of legal aid.
(
1
)	OJ C 223, 26.6.2023.