Advice for lawyers and agents regarding the written procedure before the Court of First Instance drawn up by the Registrar pursuant to Article 18 (2) of the Instructions to the Registrar of 3 March 1994
Date: 1994-04-30
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: General Court (EU), information processing, job description, judicial proceedings, member of the Court of Justice (EU)













EUR-Lex - 31994Y0430(01) - EN






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31994Y0430(01)

Advice for lawyers and agents regarding the written procedure before the Court of First Instance drawn up by the Registrar pursuant to Article 18 (2) of the Instructions to the Registrar of 3 March 1994  


Official Journal C 120 , 30/04/1994 P. 0016 - 0018 





Advice for lawyers and agents regarding the written  procedure before the Court of First Instance drawn up by the Registrar pursuant to Article 18 (2)  of the Instructions to the Registrar of 3 March 1994(94/C 120/36)I. The purpose of the  written procedureThe purpose of the written procedure before the Court of First Instance is to  define the subject-matter of the action and to put before the Court all the claims of the parties  by informing it of the relevant facts, forms of order sought, and the pleas and arguments of the  parties so as to enable the Court to give judgment in the action. II. The presentation and drafting of pleadings1. Pleadings should have a clear structure: each  section should have a title and paragraphs should be numbered consecutively. In the case of lengthy  pleadings, it is desirable to introduce each section with a brief summary of its contents and to  include a table of contents in the pleading. 2. Since the number of pleadings which each party may submit to the Court is limited (see Article  47 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance) and new pleas may not be raised in the  course of the proceedings except in certain limited circumstances (see Article 48 of the Rules of  Procedure), it is advisable that a party should set out its entire case as fully as possible in its  first pleading (the application or the defence). 3. In view of the fact that the Judges will often study a set of pleadings by reading translations  of them into another language, it is advisable to draft pleadings in a simple, straightforward and  concise style which facilitates translation and to limit the number of pages to what is strictly  necessary. 4. When pleadings are drafted documents to which reference is made in them should be clearly  identified and care should also be taken to ensure that all important documents are submitted.  Documents should be identified by indicating, each time reference is made to them, the pleading to  which the document concerned is annexed, with an indication of the annex number as it appears in  the schedule of annexes attached to that pleading. It is desirable for each document to be  identified in the same way throughout both the written and oral proceedings. Attaching to a  pleading document already submitted to the Court as annexes to another pleading needlessly  increases the volume of written evidence to be considered by the Court and may cause confusion. 5. When addressing the arguments of another party it is advisable to refer to the relevant pages of  the other party's pleading. III. The structure of pleadings1. Originating applications must comply with Article 44 of the  Rules of Procedure. Ideally, they should be structured as follows: 1. Indication of the partiesSee Article 44 (1) (a) and (b) and (2) of the Rules of Procedure. 2. Details of the type of dispute involvedFor example: 'Application under Article 173 of the EC  Treaty for the annulment of a decision of (the institution concerned) . . .'3. A summary of the  relevant factsSupported by references to the documents and offers of evidence. 4. Any considerations relating to the admissibility of the action5. A brief statement of all the  pleas in law on which the action is based6. A summary of the arguments put forward in support of  each plea in lawincluding, where appropriate, references to the relevant case-law of the Court of  Justice and of the Court of First Instance. 7. Form of order soughtParties must set out the precise terms of the operative part of the order  or judgment which they seek (for example: '1. annul the defendant's decision of . . .; 2. order the  defendant to pay the costs'). When drawing up the form of order sought, those acting for applicants  should bear in mind what is laid down in Article 176 of the EC Treaty and that it is unnecessary to  reiterate in the form of order sought pleas and arguments set out earlier in the application (for  example, the following types of formulation should be avoided '. . . declare that the action is  admissible and well-founded; declare that the contested decision does not state the reasons on  which it is based and is contrary to the provisions of the Treaty and the principle of  proportionality . . .'). Reference should also be made to Article 87 of the Rules of Procedure as  regards any order sought in the matter of costs. 2. In order to facilitate the drafting of the Official Journal notice provided for by Article 24  (6) of the Rules of Procedure and to ensure that the subject-matter of the case and the pleas in  law and main arguments contained in the application are clearly identified, it is advisable to  annex to the application a brief outline of the pleas in law and main arguments together with a  table of contents. IV. Production of annexes1. Pleadings and procedural documents may be accompanied by documents  annexed to them in order to substantiate or illustrate their contents. However, mere reference to  an annex will be no substitute for including a summary of the facts, pleas and arguments in the  body of the pleading or procedural document. Only annexes mentioned in the pleadings will be  admissible. 2. A schedule of annexes must be submitted, as prescribed by Article 43 (4) of the Rules of  Procedure and Article 6 (4) of the Instructions to the Registrar. Ideally, this schedule should set  out the annex numbers, the date and nature of the documents annexed and the pages of the pleading  on which reasons for the production of the respective annexes are given. In some cases, subnumbers  will facilitate the identification of documents. 3. Lawyers and agents should ensure that the pleadings and evidence submitted are not made  unnecessarily lengthy by the production of an excessive number of annexes and that the really  important passages or information contained in annexes are still reproduced in the body of the  pleadings.