Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of 16 May 2000
Date: 2000-05-16
Institutions: Court of Justice of the European Union
Subjects: Court of Justice of the European Union, rules of procedure

24.5.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 122/43

COURT OF JUSTICE

AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE

of 16 May 2000

THE COURT,

2. Article 44a shall be replaced by the following text:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular the third paragraph of Article
245 thereof,

Having regard to the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of
Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community, and in
particular Article 55 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community, and in particular the third paragraph of
Article 160 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

In the light of experience, it is necessary to make certain
amendments to the provisions of the Rules of Procedure
with a view to improving the conduct of proceedings.

In the case of
references for a preliminary ruling
involving particular urgency, it is necessary to provide
for accelerated procedures.

the Treaty of
Following the entry into force of
Amsterdam and of the amendments made by that Treaty
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
establishing the European Community, it is necessary to
adapt the provisions of the Rules of Procedure,

With the unanimous approval of the Council given on 13 April
2000,

HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING AMENDMENTS TO ITS RULES OF
PROCEDURE:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the European
Communities adopted on 19 June 1991 (OJ L 176, 4.7.1991,
p. 1, with corrigendum in OJ L 383, 29.12.1992, p. 117), as
amended on 21 February 1995 (OJ L 44, 28.2.1995, p. 61)
and 11 March 1997 (OJ L 103, 19.4.1997, p. 1, with corri-
gendum in OJ L 351, 23.12.1997, p. 72), shall be amended as
follows:

1. In Article 1, after the words ‘In these Rules:’, the following

shall be inserted:

‘— “Union Treaty” means

the “Treaty on European

Union”’;

‘Article 44a

Without prejudice to any special provisions laid down in
these Rules, the procedure before the Court shall also
include an oral part. However, after the pleadings referred
to in Article 40(1) and, as the case may be, in Article 41(1)
have been lodged, the Court, acting on a report from the
Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate-General,
and if none of the parties has submitted an application
setting out the reasons for which he wishes to be heard,
may decide otherwise. The application shall be submitted
within a period of one month from notification to the
party of the close of the written procedure. That period
may be extended by the President.’

3. The title of Chapter 2 of Title II of these Rules ‘Preparatory
Inquiries’ shall be replaced by the following: ‘Preparatory
Inquiries and other Preparatory Measures’.

4. After Article 54, the following text shall be inserted:

‘Section 4

Article 54a

The Judge-Rapporteur and the Advocate-General may
request the parties to submit within a specified period all
such information relating to the facts, and all such docu-
ments or other particulars, as they may consider relevant.
The information and/or documents provided shall be
communicated to the other parties.’

5. Article 103(3) shall be replaced by the following text:

‘3.
In cases provided for in Article 35(1) of the Union
Treaty and in Article 41 of the ECSC Treaty, the text of the
decision to refer the matter shall be served on the parties
in the case, the Member States, the Commission and the
Council.

These parties, States and institutions may, within two
months from the date of such service, lodge written state-
ments of case or written observations.

The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply.’

6. Article 104(3) shall be replaced by the following text:

‘3. Where a question referred to the Court for a prelimi-
nary ruling is identical to a question on which the Court
has already ruled, where the answer to such a question
may be clearly deduced from existing case-law or where
the answer to the question admits of no reasonable doubt,
the Court may, after informing the court or tribunal which

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Official Journal of the European Communities

24.5.2000

referred the question to it, after hearing any observations
submitted by the persons referred to in Article 20 of the
EC Statute, Article 21 of the Euratom Statute and Article
103(3) of these Rules and after hearing the Advocate-
General, give its decision by reasoned order in which, if
appropriate, reference is made to its previous judgment or
to the relevant case-law.’

or written observations to the essential points of law raised
by the question referred.

The statements of case or written observations, if any, shall
be notified to the parties and to the other persons referred
to above prior to the hearing.

The Court shall rule after hearing the Advocate-General.’

7. Article 104(4) shall be replaced by the following text:

10. After Article 109, the following text shall be inserted:

‘4. Without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this Article, the
procedure before the Court in the case of a reference for a
preliminary ruling shall also include an oral part. However,
after
the statements of case or written observations
referred to in Article 20 of the EC Statute, Article 21 of
the Euratom Statute and Article 103(3) of these Rules have
been submitted, the Court, acting on a report from the
Judge-Rapporteur, after informing the persons who under
the aforementioned provisions are entitled to submit such
statements or observations, may, after hearing the Advo-
cate-General, decide otherwise, provided that none of
those persons has submitted an application setting out the
reasons for which he wishes to be heard. The application
shall be submitted within a period of one month from
service on the party or person of the written statements of
case or written observations which have been lodged. That
period may be extended by the President.’

8. In Article 104,

shall be inserted
the following text
as paragraph 5, the present paragraph 5 becoming para-
graph 6:

The Court may, after hearing the Advocate-General,

‘5.
request clarification from the national court.’

9. After Article 104, the following text shall be inserted:

‘Article 104a

At the request of the national court, the President may
exceptionally decide, on a proposal
from the Judge-
Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate-General, to
apply an accelerated procedure derogating from the provi-
sions of these Rules to a reference for a preliminary ruling,
where the circumstances referred to establish that a ruling
on the question put to the Court is a matter of exceptional
urgency.

In that event, the President may immediately fix the date
for the hearing, which shall be notified to the parties in the
main proceedings and to the other persons referred to in
Article 20 of the EC Statute, Article 21 of the Euratom
Statute and Article 103(3) of
these Rules when the
decision making the reference is served.

The parties and other interested persons referred to in the
preceding paragraph may lodge statements of case or
written observations within a period prescribed by the
President, which shall not be less than 15 days. The Pres-
ident may request the parties and other interested persons
to restrict the matters addressed in their statement of case

‘ C h a p t e r 1 2

REQUESTS FOR INTERPRETATION UNDER ARTICLE 68 OF THE
EC TREATY

Article 109a

1.
A request for a ruling on a question of interpretation
under Article 68(3) of the EC Treaty shall be served on the
Commission and the Member States if
is
submitted by the Council, on the Council and the Member
States if the request is submitted by the Commission and
on the Council, the Commission and the other Member
States if the request is submitted by a Member State.

the request

The President shall prescribe a time limit within which the
institutions and the Member States on which the request
has been served are to submit their written observations.

2.
As soon as the request referred to in paragraph 1 has
been submitted, the President shall designate the Judge-
Rapporteur. The First Advocate-General shall thereupon
assign the request to an Advocate-General.

The Court shall, after

3.
the Advocate-General has
delivered his opinion, give its decision on the request by
way of judgment.

The procedure relating to the request shall include an oral
part where a Member State or one of the institutions
referred to in paragraph 1 so requests.

C h a p t e r 1 3

SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 35
OF THE UNION TREATY

Article 109b

1.
In the case of disputes between Member States as
referred to in Article 35(7) of the Union Treaty, the matter
shall be brought before the Court by an application by a
party to the dispute. The application shall be served on the
other Member States and on the Commission.

In the case of disputes between Member States and the
Commission as referred to in Article 35(7) of the Union
Treaty, the matter shall be brought before the Court by an
application by a party to the dispute. The application shall
be served on the other Member States, the Council and the
Commission if
it was made by a Member State. The
application shall be served on the Member States and on
the Council

if it was made by the Commission.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 122/45

The President shall prescribe a time limit within which the
institutions and the Member States on which the applica-
tion has been served are to submit their written observa-
tions.

As soon as the application referred to in paragraph 1
2.
has been submitted,
the President shall designate the
Judge-Rapporteur. The First Advocate-General shall there-
upon assign the application to an Advocate-General.

The Court shall, after

the Advocate-General has
3.
delivered his opinion, give its ruling on the dispute by way
of judgment.

The procedure relating to the application shall include an
oral part where a Member State or one of the institutions
referred to in paragraph 1 so requests.

4.
The same procedure shall apply where an agreement
concluded between the Member States confers jurisdiction
on the Court to rule on a dispute between Member States
or between Member States and an institution.’

11. Article 120 shall be replaced by the following text:

‘Article 120

the Court, acting on a report

After the submission of pleadings as provided for in
Article 115(1) and, if any, Article 117(1) and (2) of these
Rules,
from the Judge-
Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate-General and
the parties, may decide to dispense with the oral part of
the procedure unless one of the parties submits an applica-
tion setting out the reasons for which he wishes to be
heard. The application shall be submitted within a period
of one month from notification to the party of the close of
the written procedure. That period may be extended by the
President.’

12. The following text shall be inserted after Article 125:

‘Article 125a

it and to the lodging of written statements of case or
written observations.’

13. The references to articles of

the EC Treaty shall be

amended as follows:

— in Article 7(1) the number ‘167’ shall be replaced by

the number ‘223’,

— in Article 9(1) the number ‘165’ shall be replaced by

the number ‘221’,

— in Article 16(7) the number ‘184’ shall be replaced by

the number ‘241’,

— in Article 38(6) the numbers ‘181’ and ‘182’ shall be

replaced by the numbers ‘238’ and ‘239’,

— in Article 48(4) the numbers ‘187’ and ‘192’ shall be

replaced by the numbers ‘244’ and ‘256’,

— in the second paragraph of Article 77 the numbers
‘173’ and ‘175’ shall be replaced by the numbers ‘230’
and ‘232’,

— in Article 83(1), first subparagraph, the number ‘185’

shall be replaced by the number ‘242’,

— in Article 83(1), second subparagraph,

the number

‘186’ shall be replaced by the number ‘243’,

— in Article 89, first paragraph, the numbers ‘187’ and
‘192’ shall be replaced by the numbers ‘244’ and ‘256’,

— in Article 107(1) the number ‘228’ shall be replaced by

the number ‘300’,

— in Article 125 the number ‘188’ shall be replaced by

the number ‘245’.

Article 2

These amendments to the Rules of Procedure, which are
authentic in the languages referred to in Article 29(1) of these
Rules, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities and shall enter into force on the first day of the
second month following their publication.

The Court may issue practice directions relating in partic-
ular to the preparation and conduct of the hearings before

Done at Luxembourg, 16 May 2000.