Court of First Instance of the European Communities Amendments to the rules of procedure of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities to enable it to give Decisions in ceses when constituted by a single judge of 17 May 1999
Date: 1999-05-17
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: General Court (EU), administrative procedure, judge, jurisdiction, regulation

L 135/92

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

29. 5. 1999

COURT OF JUSTICE

Court

of

First

Instance

of
Communities

the European

AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COURT OF FIRST
INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES TO ENABLE IT TO GIVE
DECISIONS IN CASES WHEN CONSTITUTED BY A SINGLE JUDGE

of 17 May 1999

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Article 225 of the Treaty establishing
the European Community,

Having regard to Article 32d of the Treaty establishing
the European Coal and Steel Community,

Having regard to Article 140a of the Treaty establishing
the European Atomic Energy Community,

Having regard to the Protocol on the Statute of the Court
of Justice of the European Community,

Having regard to the Protocol on the Statute of the Court
of Justice of the European Coal any Steel Community,

Having regard to the Statute on the Court of Justice of
the European Atomic Energy Community,

Having regard to Council Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC,
Euratom of 24 October 1988 establishing a Court of First
Instance of the European Communities (1) to the Act of
Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden and to Council
Decision 1999/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 26 April 1999 (2),

Having regard to the agreement of the Court of Justice,

Having regard to the unanimous approval of the Council
given on 26 April 1999,

(1) OJ L 319, 25.11.1988, p. 1. Decision as amended by Council
Decisions 93/350 Euratom, ECSC, EEC, (OJ L 144, 16.6.1993,
p. 21) and 94/149/ECSC, EC (OJ L 66, 10.3.1994, p. 29).

(2) OJ L 114, 1.5.1999, p. 52.

Whereas Article 2(4) of Council Decision 88/591/ECSC,
EEC, Euratom of 24 October 1988, as amended by
Council Decision 1999/291/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 26
April 1999, provides that in certain cases governed by the
Rules of Procedure the Court of First Instance may be
constituted by a single Judge;

Whereas it is necessary use of this possibility and to
determine in the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First
Instance the circumstances in which a single Judge may
be called upon to give a decision in a case and the
detailed rules in accordance with which a case may be
heard by a single Judge,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS TO ITS
RULES OF PROCEDURE

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance of
the European Communities of 2 May 1991 (3) amended
on 15 September 1994 (4), 17 February 1995 (5), 6 July
1995 (6), and 12 March 1997 (7) are hereby amended as
follows:

(3) OJ L 136, 30.5.1991, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 249, 24.9.1994, p. 17.
(5) OJ L 44, 28.2.1995, p. 64.
(6) OJ L 172, 22.7.1995, p. 3.
(7) OJ L 103, 19.4.1997, p. 6,

23.12.1997, p. 72.

corrigenda

in OJ L 351,

29. 5. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 135/93

1) Article 11 shall be amended as follows:

(a) in paragraph (1) the following subparagraph shall

be added:

‘Cases may be heard by a single Judge where they
are delegated to him under the conditions specified
in Articles 14 and 51 or assigned to him pursuant
to Article 124, Article 127(1) or Article 129(2).';

(b) in paragraph (2) the following sentence shall be

added:

‘In cases delegated or assigned to a single Judge
the term “Court of First Instance” used in these
Rules shall also designate that Judge.';

2) Article 14 shall be amended as follows:

(a) the first paragraph shall become paragraph (1) and

the second paragraph shall be deleted;

(b) the following paragraphs shall be added:‘

2.

(1) The following cases, assigned to a Chamber
composed of three Judges, may be heard
and determined by the Judge-Rapporteur
sitting as a single Judge where, having
regard to the lack of difficulty of the ques-
tions of law or fact raised, to the limited
importance of the case and to the absence of
other special circumstances, they are suitable
for being so heard and determined and have
been delegated under the conditions laid
down in Article 51:

(a) cases brought pursuant to Article 179 of
the
the EC Treaty or Article 152 of
EAEC Treaty;

(b) cases brought pursuant

to the fourth
paragraph of Article 173, the third para-
graph of Article 175 and Article 178 of
the EC Treaty, to the second paragraph
of Article 33, Article 35 and the first and
second paragraphs of Article 40 of the
ECSC Treaty and to the fourth paragraph
of Article 146, the third paragraph of
Article 148 and Article 151 of the EAEC
Treaty that raise only questions already
clarified by established case-[hyphen]law
or that form part of a series of cases in
which the same relief is sought and of
which one has already been finally
decided;

(c) cases brought pursuant to Article 181 of
the EC Treaty, Article 42 of the ECSC
Treaty and Article 153 of
the EAEC
Treaty.

(2) Delegation to a single Judge shall not be

possible:

(a) in cases which raise issues as to the
legality of an act of general application;

(b) in cases concerning the implementation

of the rules:

(cid:190) on competition and on control of

concentrations,

(cid:190) relating to aid granted by States,
(cid:190) relating to measures to protect trade,
(cid:190) relating to the common organisation
of the agricultural markets, with the
exception of cases that form part of a
series of cases in which the same
relief
is sought and where one of
those cases has already been finally
decided;

(c) in the cases referred to in Article 130(1).

(3) The single Judge shall refer the case back to
the Chamber if he finds that the conditions
the case are no
justifying delegation of
longer satisfied.

3.
The decisions to refer or to delegate a case
which are provided for in paragraphs (1) and (2)
shall be taken under the conditions laid down in
Article 51.';

3) in Article 16 the following subparagraph shall be

added:

‘In cases assigned or delegated to a single Judge the
powers of the President, with the exception of those
referred to in Articles 105 and 106, shall be exercised
by that Judge.';

4) in Article 32 the following paragraph shall be added:

5.
‘If the single Judge to whom the case has been
delegated or assigned is absent or prevented from
attending, the President of the Court of First Instance
shall designate another Judge to replace that Judge.';

5) Article 51 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 51

In the cases specified in Article 14(1), and at any
1.
stage in the proceedings, the Chamber hearing the
case may, either on its own initiative or at the request
of one of the parties, propose to the Court of First
Instance sitting in plenary session that the case be
referred to the Court of First Instance sitting in
plenary session or
to a Chamber composed of a
different number of Judges. The Court of First
Instance sitting in plenary session shall, after hearing
the parties and the Advocate General, decide whether
or not to refer a case.

The case shall be maintained before or referred to a
Chamber composed of five Judges where a Member
State or an institution of the European Communities
which is a party to the proceedings so requests.

2.
The decision to delegate a case to a single Judge
in the situations set out in Article 14(2) shall be taken,
after the parties have been heard, unanimously by the
Chamber composed of three Judges before which the
case is pending.

Where a Member State or an institution of the Euro-
pean Communities which is a party to the proceedings
objects to the case being heard by a single Judge the
case shall be maintained before or referred to the
Chamber
to which the Judge-[hyphen]-Rapporteur
belongs.';

L 135/94

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

29. 5. 1999

6) Article 118 shall be amended as follows:

9) in Article 129(2) the following sentence shall be added:

(a) the following paragraph shall be inserted:

‘2a. Where the Court of Justice sets aside a
judgement delivered or an order made by a single
Judge, the President of the Court of First Instance
shall assign the case to a Chamber composed of
three Judges of which that Judge is not a
member.';

(b) in paragraph (3) the words ‘paragraphs (1) and (2) of
this Article, Articles 13(2), 14' shall be replaced by
the words ‘paragraphs (1),
this
Article, Articles 13(2), 14(1)';

(2) and (2a) of

7) in Article 124 the following sentence shall be added:

‘If the judgment has been delivered by a single Judge,
the
third-[hyphen]-party
initiating
proceedings shall be assigned to that Judge.';

application

8) in Article 127(1) the following sentence shall be added:

‘If the judgment has been delivered by a single Judge,
the application for revision shall be assigned to that
Judge.';

‘If the judgment has been delivered by a single Judge,
the application for interpretation shall be assigned to
that Judge.'.

Article 2

These Amendments to the Rules of Procedure, which are
authentic in the languages mentioned in Article 35(1),
shall be published in the Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Communities. They shall enter into force on the
first day of the second month following the date of their
publication.

Done at Luxembourg, 17 May 1999.

Registrar

H. JUNG

President

B.VESTERDORF