COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE - Codified version of the Rules of Procedure
Date: 2001-02-01
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: General Court (EU), administrative procedure, institutional activity

1.2.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

Codified version of the Rules of Procedure

(2001/C 34/02)

 
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Official Journal of the European Communities

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RULES OF PROCEDURE
OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

OF 2 MAY 1991

(OJ L 136 of 30 May 1991; corrigendum published in OJ L 317 of 19.11.1991, p. 34)

as amended:

(1) on 15.9.1994 (OJ L 249 of 24.9.1994, p. 17)

(2) on 17.2.1995 (OJ L 44 of 28.2.1995, p. 64)

(3) on 6.7.1995 (OJ L 172 of 22.7.1995, p. 3)

(4) on 12.3.1997 (OJ L 103 of 19.4.1997; corrigendum published in OJ L 351 of 23.12.1997, p. 72)

(5) on 17.5.1999 (OJ L 135 of 29.5.1999, p. 92)

(6) on 6.12.2000 (OJ L 322 of 19.12.2000, p. 4)

 
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INTERPRETATION

Article 1 (2)

In these Rules:

— ‘EC Treaty’ means the Treaty establishing the European Community;

— ‘EC Statute’ means the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Community;

— ‘ECSC Treaty’ means the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community;

— ‘ECSC Statute’ means the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Coal and

Steel Community;

— ‘EAEC Treaty’ means the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom);

— ‘EAEC Statute’ means the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Atomic

Energy Community;

— ‘EEA Agreement’ means the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

For the purposes of these Rules:

— ‘institutions’ means the institutions of the Communities and bodies which are established by the
Treaties, or by an act adopted in implementation thereof, and which may be parties before the Court
of First Instance;

— ‘EFTA Surveillance Authority’ means the surveillance authority referred to in the EEA Agreement.

TITLE 1

ORGANISATION OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

C h a p t e r 1

Article 3

PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

The term of office of a Judge shall begin on the date laid down
in his instrument of appointment. In the absence of any
provision regarding the date, the term shall begin on the date
of the instrument.

Article 2

Article 4

1.
Every Member of the Court of First Instance shall, as a
rule, perform the function of Judge. Members of the Court of
First Instance are hereinafter referred to as ‘Judges’.

Every Judge, with the exception of the President, may, in
2.
the circumstances specified in Articles 17 to 19, perform the
function of Advocate General in a particular case.

References to the Advocate General in these Rules shall apply
only where a Judge has been designated as Advocate General.

1.
Before taking up his duties, a Judge shall take the
following oath before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities:

‘I swear that I will perform my duties impartially and
conscientiously; I swear that I will preserve the secrecy of
the deliberations of the Court.’

2.
Immediately after taking the oath, a Judge shall sign a
declaration by which he solemnly undertakes that, both during
and after his term of office, he will respect the obligations
arising therefrom, and in particular the duty to behave with
integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after he has
ceased to hold office, of certain appointments and benefits.

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Article 5 (6)

Article 8

When the Court of Justice is called upon to decide, after
consulting the Court of First Instance, whether a Judge of the
Court of First Instance no longer fulfils the requisite conditions
or no longer meets the obligations arising from his office, the
President of the Court of First Instance shall invite the Judge
concerned to make representations to the Court of First
Instance, in closed session and in the absence of the Registrar.

The Court of First Instance shall state the reasons for its
opinion.

An opinion to the effect that a Judge of the Court of First
Instance no longer fulfils the requisite conditions or no longer
meets the obligations arising from his office must receive the
votes of a majority of the Judges of the Court of First Instance.
In that event, particulars of the voting shall be communicated
to the Court of Justice.

Voting shall be by secret ballot; the Judge concerned shall not
take part in the deliberations.

Article 6

With the exception of the President of the Court of First
Instance and of the Presidents of the Chambers, the Judges
shall rank equally in precedence according to their seniority in
office.

Where there is equal seniority in office, precedence shall be
determined by age.

Retiring Judges who are reappointed shall retain their former
precedence.

Article 7 (2) (6)

1.
The Judges shall, immediately after the partial replace-
ment provided for in Article 225 of the EC Treaty, Article 32d
of the ECSC Treaty and Article 140a of the EAEC Treaty, elect
one of their number as President of the Court of First Instance
for a term of three years.

If the office of President of the Court of First Instance
2.
falls vacant before the normal date of expiry thereof, the Court
of First Instance shall elect a successor for the remainder of the
term.

3.
The elections provided for in this Article shall be by
secret ballot. If a Judge obtains an absolute majority he shall
be elected. If no Judge obtains an absolute majority, a second
ballot shall be held and the Judge obtaining the most votes
shall be elected. Where two or more Judges obtain an equal
number of votes the oldest of them shall be deemed elected.

The President of the Court of First Instance shall direct the
judicial business and the administration of the Court of First
Instance. He shall preside at plenary sittings and deliberations.

Article 9

When the President of the Court of First Instance is absent or
prevented from attending or when the office of President is
vacant, the functions of President shall be exercised by a
President of a Chamber according to the order of precedence
laid down in Article 6.

If the President of the Court of First Instance and the Presidents
of the Chambers are all prevented from attending at the same
time, or their posts are vacant at the same time, the functions
of President shall be exercised by one of the other Judges
according to the order of precedence laid down in Article 6.

C h a p t e r 2

CONSTITUTION OF THE CHAMBERS AND DESIGNATION OF
JUDGE-RAPPORTEURS AND ADVOCATES GENERAL

Article 10

The Court of First

1.
Instance shall set up Chambers
composed of three or five Judges and shall decide which Judges
shall be attached to them.

The composition of the Chambers shall be published in

2.
the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 11 (5)

Cases before the Court of First Instance shall be heard by

1.
Chambers composed in accordance with Article 10.

Cases may be heard by the Court of First Instance sitting in
plenary session under the conditions laid down in Articles 14,
51, 106, 118, 124, 127 and 129.

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 Articles 124, 127(1) or 129(2).

2.
In cases coming before a Chamber, the term ‘Court of
First Instance’ in these Rules shall designate that Chamber. In
cases delegated or assigned to a single Judge the term ‘Court of
First Instance’ in these Rules shall designate that Judge.

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Article 12 (1)

(2)

Delegation to a single Judge shall not be possible:

The Court of First Instance shall lay down criteria by

1.
which cases are to be allocated among the Chambers.

The decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

(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:

— on competition and on control of concentrations,

Article 13

— relating to aid granted by States,

— relating to measures to protect trade,

1.
As soon as the application initiating proceedings has
been lodged, the President of the Court of First Instance shall
assign the case to one of the Chambers.

2.
The President of the Chamber shall propose to the
President of the Court of First Instance, in respect of each case
assigned to the Chamber, the designation of a Judge to act as
Rapporteur; the President of the Court of First Instance shall
decide on the proposal.

— relating to the common organisation of the agricul-
tural markets, with the exception of cases 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)

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

Article 14 (5)

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

1. Whenever the legal difficulty or the importance of the
case or special circumstances so justify, a case may be referred
to the Court of First Instance sitting in plenary session or to a
Chamber composed of a different number of Judges.

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

(1)

2.
The following cases assigned to a Chamber com-
posed 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 questions of law or fact raised,
to the limited importance of those cases 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)

(b)

cases brought pursuant to Article 236 of the EC Treaty
and to Article 152 of the EAEC Treaty;

cases brought pursuant
to the fourth paragraph of
Article 230, the third paragraph of Article 232 and
Article 235 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-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;

Article 15

The Court of First Instance shall appoint for a period of one
year the Presidents of the Chambers.

The provisions of Article 7 (2) and (3) shall apply.

The appointments made in pursuance of this Article shall be
published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 16 (5)

In cases coming before a Chamber the powers of the President
shall be exercised by the President of the Chamber.

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

Article 17

(c)

cases brought pursuant to Article 238 of the EC Treaty,
Article 42 of the ECSC Treaty and Article 153 of the
EAEC Treaty.

When the Court of First Instance sits in plenary session, it shall
be assisted by an Advocate General designated by the President
of the Court of First Instance.

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Article 18

A Chamber of the Court of First Instance may be assisted by
an Advocate General if it is considered that the legal difficulty
or the factual complexity of the case so requires.

6.
The Registrar may be deprived of his office only if he no
longer fulfils the requisite conditions or no longer meets the
obligations arising from his office; the Court of First Instance
shall take its decision after giving the Registrar an opportunity
to make representations.

Article 19

7.
If the office of Registrar falls vacant before the usual date
of expiry of the term thereof, the Court of First Instance shall
appoint a new Registrar for a term of six years.

The decision to designate an Advocate General in a particular
case shall be taken by the Court of First Instance sitting in
plenary session at the request of the Chamber before which
the case comes.

The President of the Court of First Instance shall designate the
Judge called upon to perform the function of Advocate General
in that case.

C h a p t e r 3

REGISTRY

Section 1 — The Registrar

Article 20

Article 21

The Court of First Instance may, following the procedure laid
down in respect of the Registrar, appoint one or more Assistant
Registrars to assist the Registrar and to take his place in so far
as the Instructions to the Registrar referred to in Article 23
allow.

Article 22

Where the Registrar is absent or prevented from attending
and, if necessary, where the Assistant Registrar is absent or so
prevented, or where their posts are vacant, the President of the
Court of First Instance shall designate an official or servant to
carry out the duties of Registrar.

1.

The Court of First Instance shall appoint the Registrar.

Article 23

Two weeks before the date fixed for making the appointment,
the President of the Court of First Instance shall inform the
Judges of the applications which have been submitted for the
post.

2.
An application shall be accompanied by full details of
the candidate’s age, nationality, university degrees, knowledge
of any languages, present and past occupations and experience,
if any, in judicial and international fields.

The appointment shall be made following the procedure

3.
laid down in Article 7 (3).

Instructions to the Registrar shall be adopted by the Court of
First Instance acting on a proposal from the President of the
Court of First Instance.

Article 24 (2) (6)

1.
There shall be kept in the Registry, under the control of
the Registrar, a register initialled by the President of the Court
of First
in which all pleadings and supporting
documents shall be entered in the order in which they are
lodged.

Instance,

The Registrar shall be appointed for a term of six years.

4.
He may be reappointed.

2. When a document has been registered, the Registrar shall
make a note to that effect on the original and, if a party so
requests, on any copy submitted for the purpose.

Before he takes up his duties the Registrar shall take the
5.
oath before the Court of First Instance in accordance with
Article 4.

Entries in the register and the notes provided for in the

3.
preceding paragraph shall be authentic.

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Rules for keeping the register shall be prescribed by the

4.
Instructions to the Registrar referred to in Article 23.

Section 2 — Other Departments

5.
Persons having an interest may consult the register at the
Registry and may obtain copies or extracts on payment of a
charge on a scale fixed by the Court of First Instance on a
proposal from the Registrar.

Article 28

The officials and other servants whose task is to assist directly
the President, the Judges and the Registrar shall be appointed
in accordance with the Staff Regulations. They shall be
responsible to the Registrar, under the authority of
the
President of the Court of First Instance.

The parties to a case may on payment of the appropriate
charge also obtain copies of pleadings and authenticated copies
of orders and judgments.

Article 29

Notice shall be given in the Official Journal of the European
6.
Communities of the date of registration of an application
initiating proceedings, the names and addresses of the parties,
the subject-matter of the proceedings, the form of order sought
by the applicant and a summary of the pleas in law and of the
main supporting arguments.

7. Where the Council or the Commission is not a party to
a case, the Court of First Instance shall send to it copies of the
application and of the defence, without the annexes thereto,
to enable it to assess whether the inapplicability of one of its
acts is being invoked under Article 241 of the EC Treaty, the
third paragraph of Article 36 of the ECSC Treaty or Article 156
of the EAEC Treaty.

The officials and other servants referred to in Article 28 shall
take the oath provided for in Article 20 (2) of the Rules of
Procedure of the Court of Justice before the President of the
Court of First Instance in the presence of the Registrar.

Article 30

The Registrar shall be responsible, under the authority of the
President of the Court of First Instance, for the administration
of the Court of First Instance, its financial management and its
accounts; he shall be assisted in this by the departments of the
Court of Justice.

C h a p t e r 4

THE WORKING OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

Article 25

Article 31

The Registrar shall be responsible, under the authority of
1.
the President, for the acceptance, transmission and custody of
documents and for effecting service as provided for by these
Rules.

The dates and times of the sittings of the Court of First

1.
Instance shall be fixed by the President.

2.
The Court of First Instance may choose to hold one or
more sittings in a place other than that in which the Court of
First Instance has its seat.

The Registrar shall assist the Court of First Instance, the

2.
President and the Judges in all their official functions.

Article 32 (4) (5)

Article 26

The Registrar shall have custody of the seals. He shall be
responsible for the records and be in charge of the publications
of the Court of First Instance.

Article 27

Subject to Articles 5 and 33, the Registrar shall attend the
sittings of the Court of First Instance.

1. Where, by reason of a Judge being absent or prevented
from attending, there is an even number of Judges, the most
junior Judge within the meaning of Article 6 shall abstain from
in the deliberations unless he is the Judge-
taking part
Rapporteur. In this case, the Judge immediately senior to him
shall abstain from taking part in the deliberations.

Where, following the designation of an Advocate General
pursuant to Article 17, there is an even number of Judges in
the Court of First Instance sitting in plenary session, the
President of the Court shall designate, before the hearing and
in accordance with a rota established in advance by the Court
of First Instance and published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities, the Judge who will not take part in the
judgment of the case.

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2.
If after the Court of First Instance has been convened in
plenary session, it is found that the quorum of nine Judges has
not been attained, the President of the Court of First Instance
shall adjourn the sitting until there is a quorum.

6.
Differences of view on the substance, wording or order
of questions, or on the interpretation of a vote shall be settled
by decision of the Court of First Instance.

3.
If in any Chamber the quorum of three Judges has not
been attained, the President of that Chamber shall so inform
the President of the Court of First Instance who shall designate
another Judge to complete the Chamber.

7. Where the deliberations of the Court of First Instance
concern questions of its own administration, the Registrar
shall be present, unless the Court of First Instance decides to
the contrary.

4.
If in any Chamber of three or five Judges the number of
Judges assigned to that Chamber is higher than three or five
respectively, the President of the Chamber shall decide which
of the Judges will be called upon to take part in the judgment
of the case.

8. Where the Court of First
the
Registrar being present it shall, if necessary, instruct the most
junior Judge within the meaning of Article 6 to draw up
minutes. The minutes shall be signed by this Judge and by the
President.

Instance sits without

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.

Article 34

Subject to any special decision of the Court of First

1.
Instance, its vacations shall be as follows:

Article 33

— from 18 December to 10 January,

The Court of First Instance shall deliberate in closed

1.
session.

Only those Judges who were present at the oral proceed-

2.
ings may take part in the deliberations.

Every Judge taking part in the deliberations shall state his

3.
opinion and the reasons for it.

4.
Any Judge may require that any question be formulated
in the language of his choice and communicated in writing to
the other Judges before being put to the vote.

— from the Sunday before Easter to the second Sunday after

Easter,

— from 15 July to 15 September.

During the vacations, the functions of President shall be
exercised at the place where the Court of First Instance has its
seat either by the President himself, keeping in touch with the
Registrar, or by a President of Chamber or other Judge invited
by the President to take his place.

In a case of urgency, the President may convene the

2.
Judges during the vacations.

The Court of First Instance shall observe the official

3.
holidays of the place where it has its seat.

5.
The conclusions reached by the majority of the Judges
after final discussion shall determine the decision of the Court
of First Instance. Votes shall be cast in reverse order to the
order of precedence laid down in Article 6.

The Court of First Instance may, in proper circumstances,

4.
grant leave of absence to any Judge.

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C h a p t e r 5

LANGUAGES

Article 35 (2) (4)

The language of a case shall be Danish, Dutch, English,
Italian, Portuguese,

1.
Finnish, French, German, Greek,
Spanish or Swedish.

Irish,

The language of the case shall be chosen by the applicant,

2.
except that:

(a)

(b)

at the joint request of the parties, the use of another of
the languages mentioned in paragraph 1 for all or part of
the proceedings may be authorised;

at the request of one of the parties, and after the opposite
party and the Advocate General have been heard, the use
of another of the languages mentioned in paragraph 1 as
the language of the case for all or part of the proceedings
may be authorised by way of derogation from subpara-
graph (a); such a request may not be submitted by an
institution.

Requests as above may be decided on by the President; the
latter may and, where he proposes to accede to a request
without the agreement of all the parties, must refer the request
to the Court of First Instance.

The language of the case shall be used in the written and
3.
oral pleadings of the parties and in supporting documents, and
also in the minutes and decisions of the Court of First Instance.

Any supporting documents expressed in another language
must be accompanied by a translation into the language of the
case.

In the case of lengthy documents, translations may be confined
to extracts. However, the Court of First Instance may, of its
own motion or at the request of a party, at any time call for a
complete or fuller translation.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, a Member State
shall be entitled to use its official language when intervening
in a case before the Court of First Instance. This provision shall
apply both to written statements and to oral addresses. The
Registrar shall cause any such statement or address to be
translated into the language of the case.

The States, other than the Member States, which are parties to
the EEA Agreement, and also the EFTA Surveillance Authority,
may be authorised to use one of the languages mentioned in
paragraph 1, other than the language of the case, when they
intervene in a case before the Court of First Instance. This
provision shall apply both to written statements and oral
addresses. The Registrar shall cause any such statement or
address to be translated into the language of the case.

4. Where a witness or expert states that he is unable
adequately to express himself in one of the languages referred
to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Court of First Instance
may authorise him to give his evidence in another language.
The Registrar shall arrange for translation into the language of
the case.

5.
The President in conducting oral proceedings, the Judge-
Rapporteur both in his preliminary report and in his report
for the hearing, Judges and the Advocate General in putting
questions and the Advocate General in delivering his opinion
may use one of the languages referred to in paragraph 1 of
this Article other than the language of the case. The Registrar
shall arrange for translation into the language of the case.

Article 36

1.
The Registrar shall, at the request of any Judge, of the
Advocate General or of a party, arrange for anything said or
written in the course of the proceedings before the Court of
First Instance to be translated into the languages he chooses
from those referred to in Article 35 (1).

2.
Publications of the Court of First Instance shall be issued
in the languages referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation
No 1.

Article 37

The texts of documents drawn up in the language of the case
or in any other language authorised by the Court of First
Instance pursuant to Article 35 shall be authentic.

C h a p t e r 6

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF AGENTS, ADVISERS AND LAW-
YERS

Article 38 (2)

1.
Agents, advisers and lawyers, appearing before the Court
of First Instance or before any judicial authority to which it
has addressed letters rogatory, shall enjoy immunity in respect
of words spoken or written by them concerning the case or
the parties.

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Agents, advisers and lawyers shall enjoy the following

2.
further privileges and facilities:

(a)

(b)

(c)

papers and documents relating to the proceedings shall
be exempt from both search and seizure; in the event of
a dispute the customs officials or police may seal those
papers and documents; they shall then be immediately
forwarded to the Court of First Instance for inspection in
the presence of the Registrar and of the person concerned;

agents, advisers and lawyers shall be entitled to such
allocation of foreign currency as may be necessary for the
performance of their duties;

agents, advisers and lawyers shall be entitled to travel in
the course of duty without hindrance.

The Court of First Instance may waive the immunity where it
considers that the proper conduct of proceedings will not be
hindered thereby.

Article 41

1.
Any adviser or lawyer whose conduct towards the Court
of First Instance, the President, a Judge or the Registrar is
incompatible with the dignity of the Court of First Instance, or
who uses his rights for purposes other than those for which
they were granted, may at any time be excluded from the
proceedings by an order of the Court of First Instance; the
person concerned shall be given an opportunity to defend
himself.

Article 39 (2)

The order shall have immediate effect.

In order to qualify for the privileges, immunities and facilities
specified in Article 38, persons entitled to them shall furnish
proof of their status as follows:

(a)

(b)

agents shall produce an official document issued by the
party for whom they act and shall forward without delay
a copy thereof to the Registrar;

advisers and lawyers shall produce a certificate signed by
the Registrar. The validity of this certificate shall be
limited to a specified period, which may be extended or
curtailed according to the length of the proceedings.

2. Where an adviser or lawyer is excluded from the
proceedings, the proceedings shall be suspended for a period
fixed by the President in order to allow the party concerned to
appoint another adviser or lawyer.

3.

Decisions taken under this Article may be rescinded.

Article 42 (2)

Article 40

The privileges, immunities and facilities specified in Article 38
are granted exclusively in the interests of the proper conduct
of proceedings.

The provisions of
this Chapter shall apply to university
teachers who have a right of audience before the Court of First
Instance in accordance with Article 17 of the EC Statute,
Article 20 of the ECSC Statute and Article 17 of the EAEC
Statute.

TITLE 2

PROCEDURE

C h a p t e r 1

WRITTEN PROCEDURE

Article 43 (6)

Instance and a copy for every other party to the proceedings.
Copies shall be certified by the party lodging them.

Institutions shall in addition produce, within time-limits
2.
laid down by the Court of First Instance, translations of all
pleadings into the other languages provided for by Article 1
of Council Regulation No 1. The second subparagraph of
paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply.

The original of every pleading must be signed by the

1.
party’s agent or lawyer.

The original, accompanied by all annexes referred to therein,
shall be lodged together with five copies for the Court of First

All pleadings shall bear a date. In the reckoning of time-
3.
limits for taking steps in proceedings only the date of lodgment
at the Registry shall be taken into account.

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4.
To every pleading there shall be annexed a file containing
the documents relied on in support of it, together with a
schedule listing them.

3.
The lawyer acting for a party must lodge at the Registry
a certificate that he is authorised to practise before a Court of
a Member State or of another State which is a party to the EEA
Agreement.

5. Where in view of the length of a document only extracts
from it are annexed to the pleading, the whole document or a
full copy of it shall be lodged at the Registry.

6. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraphs 1 to
5, the date on which a copy of the signed original of a
pleading, including the schedule of documents referred to in
paragraph 4, is received at the Registry by telefax or other
technical means of communication available to the Court of
First Instance shall be deemed to be the date of lodgment for
the purposes of compliance with the time-limits for taking
steps in proceedings, provided that the signed original of the
pleading, accompanied by the annexes and copies referred to
in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, is lodged at the
Registry no later than ten days thereafter.

Article 44 (1) (2) (6)

The application shall be accompanied, where appropri-
4.
ate, by the documents specified in the second paragraph of
Article 19 of the EC Statute,
in the second paragraph of
Article 22 of the ECSC Statute and in the second paragraph of
Article 19 of the EAEC Statute.

An application made by a legal person governed by

5.
private law shall be accompanied by:

(a)

the instrument or instruments constituting and regulating
that legal person or a recent extract from the register of
companies, firms or associations or any other proof of its
existence in law;

1.
An application of the kind referred to in Article 19 of
the EC Statute, Article 22 of the ECSC Statute and Article 19
of the EAEC Statute shall state:

(b) proof that the authority granted to the applicant’s lawyer
has been properly conferred on him by someone author-
ised for the purpose.

(a)

the name and address of the applicant;

(b)

(c)

the designation of the party against whom the application
is made;

the subject-matter of the proceedings and a summary of
the pleas in law on which the application is based;

(d)

the form of order sought by the applicant;

(e) where appropriate, the nature of any evidence offered in

support.

2.
For the purposes of the proceedings, the application shall
state an address for service in the place where the Court of
First Instance has its seat and the name of the person who is
authorised and has expressed willingness to accept service.

In addition to or instead of specifying an address for service as
referred to in the first subparagraph, the application may state
that the lawyer or agent agrees that service is to be effected on
him by telefax or other technical means of communication.

If the application does not comply with the requirements
referred to in the first and second subparagraphs, all service
on the party concerned for the purposes of the proceedings
shall be effected, for so long as the defect has not been cured,
by registered letter addressed to the agent or lawyer of that
party. By way of derogation from the first paragraph of Article
100, service shall then be deemed to have been duly effected
by the lodging of the registered letter at the post office of the
place where the Court of First Instance has its seat.

5a.
An application submitted under Article 238 of the EC
Treaty, Article 42 of the ECSC Treaty or Article 153 of the
EAEC Treaty pursuant to an arbitration clause contained in a
contract governed by public or private law, entered into by the
Community or on its behalf, shall be accompanied by a copy
of the contract which contains that clause.

6.
If an application does not comply with the requirements
set out in paragraphs 3 to 5 of this Article, the Registrar shall
prescribe a reasonable period within which the applicant is to
comply with them whether by putting the application itself in
order or by producing any of the above-mentioned documents.
If the applicant fails to put the application in order or to
produce the required documents within the time prescribed,
the Court of First Instance shall decide whether the non-
compliance with these conditions renders the application
formally inadmissible.

Article 45

The application shall be served on the defendant. In a case
where Article 44(6) applies, service shall be effected as soon as
the application has been put in order or the Court of First
Instance has declared it admissible notwithstanding the failure
to observe the formal requirements set out in that Article.

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Article 46

2.
No new plea in law may be introduced in the course of
proceedings unless it is based on matters of law or of fact
which come to light in the course of the procedure.

1. Within one month after service on him of the appli-
cation, the defendant shall lodge a defence, stating:

(a)

the name and address of the defendant;

(b)

the arguments of fact and law relied on;

(c)

the form of order sought by the defendant;

(d)

the nature of any evidence offered by him.

If in the course of the procedure one of the parties puts
forward a new plea in law which is so based, the President
may, even after the expiry of the normal procedural time-
limits, acting on a report of the Judge-Rapporteur and after
hearing the Advocate General, allow the other party time to
answer on that plea.

Consideration of the admissibility of the plea shall be reserved
for the final judgment.

The provisions of Article 44(2) to (5) shall apply to the
defence.

Article 49

2.
In proceedings between the Communities and their
servants the defence shall be accompanied by the complaint
within the meaning of Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of
Officials and by the decision rejecting the complaint together
with the dates on which the complaint was submitted and the
decision notified.

3.
The time-limit laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article
may be extended by the President on a reasoned application
by the defendant.

Article 47 (6)

1.
The application initiating the proceedings and the
defence may be supplemented by a reply from the applicant
and by a rejoinder from the defendant unless the Court of First
Instance, after hearing the Advocate General, decides that a
second exchange of pleadings is unnecessary because the
documents before it are sufficiently comprehensive to enable
the parties to elaborate their pleas and arguments in the course
of the oral procedure. However, the Court of First Instance
may authorise the parties to supplement the documents if the
applicant presents a reasoned request to that effect within two
weeks from the notification of that decision.

The President shall fix the time-limits within which these

2.
pleadings are to be lodged.

Article 48

At any stage of the proceedings the Court of First Instance may,
after hearing the Advocate General, prescribe any measure of
organisation of procedure or any measure of inquiry referred
to in Articles 64 and 65 or order that a previous inquiry be
repeated or expanded.

Article 50 (4)

The President may, at any time, after hearing the parties and
the Advocate General, order that two or more cases concerning
the same subject-matter shall, on account of the connection
between them, be joined for the purposes of the written or
judgment. The cases may
oral procedure or of the final
subsequently be disjoined. The President may refer these
matters to the Court of First Instance.

Article 51 (1) (5)

In the cases specified in Article 14(1), and at any stage in
1.
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.

In reply or rejoinder a party may offer further evidence.
1.
The party must, however, give reasons for the delay in offering
it.

2.
The decision to delegate a case to a single Judge in the
situations specified 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.

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Where a Member State or an institution of the European
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-Rapporteur belongs.

C h a p t e r 2

ORAL PROCEDURE

Article 55

Article 52 (6)

1. Without prejudice to Article 49, the President shall,

(a)

after the rejoinder has been lodged, or

(b) where no reply or no rejoinder has been lodged within

the time-limit fixed in accordance with Article 47(2), or

1.
Subject to the priority of decisions provided for in
Article 106, the Court of First Instance shall deal with the cases
before it in the order in which the preparatory inquiries in
them have been completed. Where the preparatory inquiries
in several cases are completed simultaneously, the order in
which they are to be dealt with shall be determined by the
dates of entry in the register of the applications initiating them
respectively.

(c) where the party concerned has waived his right to lodge

a reply or rejoinder, or

The President may in special circumstances order that a

2.
case be given priority over others.

(d) where the Court of First Instance has decided that there is
no need, in accordance with Article 47(1), to supplement
the application and the defence by a reply and a rejoinder,
or

(e) where the Court of First Instance has decided that it is
appropriate to adjudicate under an expedited procedure
in accordance with Article 76a(1), fix a date on which the
Judge-Rapporteur is to present his preliminary report to
the Court of First Instance.

2.
The preliminary report shall contain recommendations
as to whether measures of organisation of procedure or
measures of inquiry should be undertaken and whether the
case should 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 shall decide, after hearing the
Advocate General, what action to take upon the recommen-
dations of the Judge-Rapporteur.

Article 53

Where the Court of First Instance decides to open the oral
procedure without undertaking measures of organisation of
procedure or ordering a preparatory inquiry, the President of
the Court of First Instance shall fix the opening date.

The President may in special circumstances, after hearing the
parties and the Advocate General, either on his own initiative
or at the request of one of the parties, defer a case to be dealt
with at a later date. On a joint application by the parties the
President may order that a case be deferred.

Article 56

The proceedings shall be opened and directed by the President,
who shall be responsible for the proper conduct of the hearing.

Article 57

The oral proceedings in cases heard in camera shall not be
published.

Article 58

The President may in the course of the hearing put questions
to the agents, advisers or lawyers of the parties.

The other Judges and the Advocate General may do likewise.

Article 59

Article 54

A party may address the Court of First Instance only through
his agent, adviser or lawyer.

Without prejudice to any measures of organisation of pro-
cedure or measures of inquiry which may be arranged at the
stage of the oral procedure, where, during the written pro-
cedure, measures of organisation of procedure or measures of
inquiry have been instituted and completed, the President shall
fix the date for the opening of the oral procedure.

Article 60

Where an Advocate General has not been designated in a case,
the President shall declare the oral procedure closed at the end
of the hearing.

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Article 61

(b)

to determine the points on which the parties must present
further argument or which call for measures of inquiry;

1. Where the Advocate General delivers his opinion in
writing, he shall lodge it at the Registry, which shall communi-
cate it to the parties.

(c)

to clarify the forms of order sought by the parties, their
pleas in law and arguments and the points at issue
between them;

2.
After the delivery, orally or in writing, of the opinion of
the Advocate General the President shall declare the oral
procedure closed.

(d)

to facilitate the amicable settlement of proceedings.

Article 62

3. Measures of organisation of procedure may, in particular,
consist of:

The Court of First Instance may, after hearing the Advocate
General, order the reopening of the oral procedure.

(a)

putting questions to the parties;

Article 63

The Registrar shall draw up minutes of every hearing.
1.
The minutes shall be signed by the President and by the
Registrar and shall constitute an official record.

(b)

inviting the parties to make written or oral submissions
on certain aspects of the proceedings;

(c)

asking the parties or third parties for information or
particulars;

(d)

asking for documents or any papers relating to the case
to be produced;

The parties may inspect the minutes at the Registry and

2.
obtain copies at their own expense.

(e)

summoning the parties’ agents or the parties in person to
meetings.

C h a p t e r 3

MEASURES OF ORGANISATION OF PROCEDURE AND MEASURES
OF INQUIRY

Section 1 — Measures of organisation of procedure

Article 64

1.
The purpose of measures of organisation of procedure
shall be to ensure that cases are prepared for hearing,
procedures carried out and disputes resolved under the best
possible conditions. They shall be prescribed by the Court of
First Instance, after hearing the Advocate General.

2. Measures of organisation of procedure shall, in particular,
have as their purpose:

4.
Each party may, at any stage of the procedure, propose
the adoption or modification of measures of organisation of
procedure. In that case, the other parties shall be heard before
those measures are prescribed.

Where the procedural circumstances so require, the Registrar
shall inform the parties of the measures envisaged by the Court
of First Instance and shall give them an opportunity to submit
comments orally or in writing.

5.
If the Court of First Instance sitting in plenary session
decides to prescribe measures of organisation of procedure
and does not undertake such measures itself, it shall entrust
the task of so doing to the Chamber to which the case was
originally assigned or to the Judge-Rapporteur.

If a Chamber prescribes measures of organisation of procedure
and does not undertake such measures itself, it shall entrust
the task to the Judge-Rapporteur.

(a)

to ensure efficient conduct of
procedure and to facilitate the taking of evidence;

the written and oral

The Advocate General shall take part in measures of organis-
ation of procedure.

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Section 2 — Measures of inquiry

Article 65 (2)

Without prejudice to Articles 21 and 22 of the EC Statute,
Articles 24 and 25 of the ECSC Statute and Articles 22 and 23
of the EAEC Statute, the following measures of inquiry may be
adopted:

(a)

the personal appearance of the parties;

(b)

a request for information and production of documents;

(c)

oral testimony;

(d)

the commissioning of an expert’s report;

Where it is necessary for the Court of First Instance to verify
the confidentiality, in respect of one or more parties, of a
document that may be relevant in order to rule in a case, that
document shall not be communicated to the parties at the
stage of such verification.

Where a document to which access has been denied by a
Community institution has been produced before the Court of
First Instance in proceedings relating to the legality of that
denial, that document shall not be communicated to the other
parties.

Section 3 — The summoning and examination
of witnesses and experts

(e)

an inspection of the place or thing in question.

Article 68

Article 66

The Court of First Instance, after hearing the Advocate
1.
General, shall prescribe the measures of
it
considers appropriate by means of an order setting out the
facts to be proved. Before the Court of First Instance decides
on the measures of inquiry referred to in Article 65(c), (d) and
(e) the parties shall be heard.

inquiry that

The order shall be served on the parties.

Evidence may be submitted in rebuttal and previous

2.
evidence may be amplified.

Article 67 (6)

1. Where the Court of First Instance sitting in plenary
session orders a preparatory inquiry and does not undertake
such an inquiry itself, it shall entrust the task of so doing to
the Chamber to which the case was originally assigned or to
the Judge-Rapporteur.

Where a Chamber orders a preparatory inquiry and does not
undertake such an inquiry itself, it shall entrust the task of so
doing to the Judge-Rapporteur.

The Advocate General shall take part in the measures of
inquiry.

2.

The parties may be present at the measures of inquiry.

1.
The Court of First Instance may, either of its own motion
or on application by a party, and after hearing the Advocate
General and the parties, order that certain facts be proved by
witnesses. The order shall set out the facts to be established.

The Court of First Instance may summon a witness of its own
motion or on application by a party or at the instance of the
Advocate General.

An application by a party for the examination of a witness
shall state precisely about what facts and for what reasons the
witness should be examined.

The witness shall be summoned by an order containing

2.
the following information:

(a)

(b)

the surname, forenames, description and address of the
witness;

an indication of the facts about which the witness is to
be examined;

(c) where appropriate, particulars of the arrangements made
by the Court of First Instance for reimbursement of
expenses incurred by the witness, and of the penalties
which may be imposed on defaulting witnesses.

The order shall be served on the parties and the witnesses.

3.
The Court of First Instance may make the summoning of
a witness for whose examination a party has applied con-
ditional upon the deposit with the cashier of the Court of First
Instance of a sum sufficient to cover the taxed costs thereof;
the Court of First Instance shall fix the amount of the payment.

3.
Subject to the provisions of Article 116(2) and (6), the
Court of First Instance shall take into consideration only those
documents which have been made available to the lawyers and
agents of the parties and on which they have been given an
opportunity of expressing their views.

The cashier of the Court of First Instance shall advance the
funds necessary in connection with the examination of any
witness summoned by the Court of First Instance of its own
motion.

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4.
After the identity of the witness has been established, the
President shall inform him that he will be required to vouch
the truth of his evidence in the manner laid down in
paragraph 5 of this Article and in Article 71.

The same penalty may be imposed upon a witness who,
without good reason, refuses to give evidence or to take the
oath or where appropriate to make a solemn affirmation
equivalent thereto.

The witness shall give his evidence to the Court of First
Instance, the parties having been given notice to attend. After
the witness has given his main evidence the President may, at
the request of a party or of his own motion, put questions to
him.

The other Judges and the Advocate General may do likewise.

Subject to the control of the President, questions may be put
to witnesses by the representatives of the parties.

Subject to the provisions of Article 71, the witness shall,

5.
after giving his evidence, take the following oath:

‘I swear that I have spoken the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth.’

The Court of First Instance may, after hearing the parties,
exempt a witness from taking the oath.

The Registrar shall draw up minutes in which the

6.
evidence of each witness is reproduced.

The minutes shall be signed by the President or by the Judge-
Rapporteur responsible for conducting the examination of the
witness, and by the Registrar. Before the minutes are thus
signed, witnesses must be given an opportunity to check the
content of the minutes and to sign them.

The minutes shall constitute an official record.

Article 69 (2) (6)

3.
If the witness proffers a valid excuse to the Court of First
Instance, the pecuniary penalty imposed on him may be
cancelled. The pecuniary penalty imposed may be reduced at
the request of the witness where he establishes that it is
disproportionate to his income.

4.
Penalties imposed and other measures ordered under this
Article shall be enforced in accordance with Articles 244 and
256 of the EC Treaty, Articles 44 and 92 of the ECSC Treaty
and Articles 159 and 164 of the EAEC Treaty.

Article 70

1.
The Court of First Instance may order that an expert’s
report be obtained. The order appointing the expert shall
define his task and set a time-limit within which he is to make
his report.

2.
The expert shall receive a copy of the order, together
with all the documents necessary for carrying out his task. He
shall be under the supervision of the Judge-Rapporteur, who
may be present during his investigation and who shall be kept
informed of his progress in carrying out his task.

1. Witnesses who have been duly summoned shall obey the
summons and attend for examination.

The Court of First Instance may request the parties or one of
them to lodge security for the costs of the expert’s report.

2.
If a witness who has been duly summoned fails to appear
before the Court of First Instance, the latter may impose upon
him a pecuniary penalty not exceeding EUR 5 000 (1) and may
order that a further summons be served on the witness at his
own expense.

3.
At the request of the expert, the Court of First Instance
may order the examination of witnesses. Their examination
shall be carried out in accordance with Article 68.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 on certain provisions
relating to the introduction of the euro (OJ L 162 of 19.6.1997,
p. 1).

The expert may give his opinion only on points which

4.
have been expressly referred to him.

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5.
After the expert has made his report, the Court of First
Instance may order that he be examined, the parties having
been given notice to attend.

2.
The Registrar shall be responsible for communicating
the decision of the Court of First Instance. The decision shall
set out the facts and circumstances on which the report is
based.

Subject to the control of the President, questions may be put
to the expert by the representatives of the parties.

6.
Subject to the provisions of Article 71, the expert shall,
after making his report, take the following oath before the
Court of First Instance:

‘I swear that I have conscientiously and impartially carried
out my task.’

The Court of First Instance may, after hearing the parties,
exempt the expert from taking the oath.

Article 71

The President shall instruct any person who is required
1.
to take an oath before the Court of First
Instance, as
witness or expert, to tell the truth or to carry out his task
conscientiously and impartially, as the case may be, and shall
warn him of the criminal liability provided for in his national
law in the event of any breach of this duty.

2. Witnesses and experts shall take the oath either in
accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 68(5) and
the first subparagraph of Article 70(6) or in the manner laid
down by their national law.

3. Where the national
law provides the opportunity to
make, in judicial proceedings, a solemn affirmation equivalent
to an oath as well as or instead of taking an oath, the
witnesses and experts may make such an affirmation under
the conditions and in the form prescribed in their national
law.

Article 73

If one of the parties objects to a witness or to an expert
1.
on the ground that he is not a competent or proper person to
act as witness or expert or for any other reason, or if a witness
or expert refuses to give evidence, to take the oath or to make
a solemn affirmation equivalent thereto, the matter shall be
resolved by the Court of First Instance.

An objection to a witness or to an expert shall be raised
2.
within two weeks after service of the order summoning the
witness or appointing the expert; the statement of objection
must set out the grounds of objection and indicate the nature
of any evidence offered.

Article 74

1. Witnesses and experts shall be entitled to reimbursement
of their travel and subsistence expenses. The cashier of the
Court of First Instance may make a payment to them towards
these expenses in advance.

2. Witnesses shall be entitled to compensation for loss of
earnings, and experts to fees for their services. The cashier of
the Court of First Instance shall pay witnesses and experts
their compensation or fees after they have carried out their
respective duties or tasks.

Where their national law provides neither for taking an oath
nor for making a solemn affirmation, the procedure described
in the first paragraph of this Article shall be followed.

Article 75

Article 72

The Court of First Instance may, on application by a
issue letters rogatory for the

1.
party or of its own motion,
examination of witnesses or experts.

The Court of First

Instance may, after hearing the
1.
Advocate General, decide to report to the competent authority
referred to in Annex III to the Rules supplementing the Rules
of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the Member State whose
courts have penal jurisdiction in any case of perjury on the
part of a witness or expert before the Court of First Instance,
account being taken of the provisions of Article 71.

2.
Letters rogatory shall be issued in the form of an order
which shall contain the name, forenames, description and
address of the witness or expert, set out the facts on which the
witness or expert is to be examined, name the parties, their
agents, lawyers or advisers, indicate their addresses for service
and briefly describe the subject-matter of the proceedings.

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Notice of the order shall be served on the parties by the
Registrar.

3.
The Registrar shall send the order to the competent
authority named in Annex I to the Rules supplementing the
Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice of the Member State
in whose territory the witness or expert is to be examined.
the order shall be accompanied by a
Where necessary,
translation into the official
language or languages of the
Member State to which it is addressed.

The authority named pursuant to the first subparagraph shall
pass on the order to the judicial authority which is competent
according to its national law.

judicial authority shall give effect

to the
The competent
letters rogatory in accordance with its national
law. After
implementation the competent judicial authority shall transmit
to the authority named pursuant to the first subparagraph the
order embodying the letters rogatory, any documents arising
from the implementation and a detailed statement of costs.
These documents shall be sent to the Registrar.

The Registrar shall be responsible for the translation of the
documents into the language of the case.

An application for a case to be decided under an expedited
procedure shall be made by a separate document lodged at the
same time as the application initiating the proceedings or the
defence.

By way of derogation from Article 55, cases on which the
Court of First Instance has decided to adjudicate under an
expedited procedure shall be given priority.

Under the expedited procedure, the pleadings referred to
2.
in Articles 47(1) and 116(4) and (5) may be lodged only if the
Court of First Instance, by way of measures of organisation of
procedure adopted in accordance with Article 64, so allows.

3. Without prejudice to Article 48, the parties may sup-
plement their arguments and offer further evidence in the
course of the oral procedure. They must, however, give reasons
for the delay in offering such further evidence.

C h a p t e r 4

STAY OF PROCEEDINGS AND DECLINING OF JURISDICTION BY
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

4.
The Court of First Instance shall defray the expenses
occasioned by the letters rogatory without prejudice to the
right to charge them, where appropriate, to the parties.

Article 77 (2)

Article 76

1.
The Registrar shall draw up minutes of every hearing.
The minutes shall be signed by the President and by the
Registrar and shall constitute an official record.

2.
The parties may inspect the minutes and any expert’s
report at the Registry and obtain copies at their own expense.

C h a p t e r 3 a ( 6 )

EXPEDITED PROCEDURES

Article 76a

1.
The Court of First Instance may, on application by the
applicant or the defendant, after hearing the other parties and
the Advocate General, decide, having regard to the particular
urgency and the circumstances of the case, to adjudicate under
an expedited procedure.

Without prejudice to Article 123(4), Article 128 and
Article 129(4), proceedings may be stayed:

(a)

in the circumstances specified in the third paragraph of
Article 47 of the EC Statute, the third paragraph of
Article 47 of the ECSC Statute and the third paragraph of
Article 48 of the EAEC Statute;

(b) where an appeal is brought before the Court of Justice
against a decision of the Court of First Instance disposing
of the substantive issues in part only, disposing of a
procedural issue concerning a plea of lack of competence
or inadmissibility or dismissing an application to inter-
vene;

(c)

at the joint request of the parties.

Article 78 (4)

The decision to stay the proceedings shall be made by order of
the President after hearing the parties and the Advocate
General; the President may refer the matter to the Court of
First Instance. A decision ordering that the proceedings be
resumed shall be adopted in accordance with the same
procedure. The orders referred to in this Article shall be served
on the parties.

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Article 79

— the grounds for the decision,

The stay of proceedings shall take effect on the date
1.
indicated in the order of stay or, in the absence of such an
indication, on the date of that order.

— the operative part of the judgment, including the decision

as to costs.

for the
While proceedings are stayed time shall, except
purposes of the time-limit prescribed in Article 115(1) for an
application to intervene, cease to run for the purposes of
prescribed time-limits for all parties.

2. Where the order of stay does not fix the length of the
stay,
it shall end on the date indicated in the order of
resumption or, in the absence of such indication, on the date
of the order of resumption.

From the date of resumption time shall begin to run afresh for
the purposes of the time-limits.

Article 80 (2)

Decisions declining jurisdiction in the circumstances specified
in the third paragraph of Article 47 of the EC Statute, the third
paragraph of Article 47 of the ECSC Statute and the third
paragraph of Article 48 of the EAEC Statute shall be made by
the Court of First Instance by way of an order which shall be
served on the parties.

C h a p t e r 5

JUDGMENTS

Article 81

The judgment shall contain:

— a statement that it is the judgment of the Court of First

Instance,

— the date of its delivery,

— the names of the President and of the Judges taking part

in it,

— the name of the Advocate General, if designated,

— the name of the Registrar,

— the description of the parties,

Article 82

The judgment shall be delivered in open court; the parties

1.
shall be given notice to attend to hear it.

The original of the judgment, signed by the President, by
2.
the Judges who took part in the deliberations and by the
Registrar, shall be sealed and deposited at the Registry; the
parties shall be served with certified copies of the judgment.

The Registrar shall record on the original of the judgment

3.
the date on which it was delivered.

Article 83 (2)

Subject to the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 53
of the EC Statute, the second paragraph of Article 53 of the
ECSC Statute and the second paragraph of Article 54 of the
EAEC Statute, the judgment shall be binding from the date of
its delivery.

Article 84

1. Without prejudice to the provisions relating to the
interpretation of judgments, the Court of First Instance may,
of its own motion or on application by a party made within
two weeks after the delivery of a judgment, rectify clerical
mistakes, errors in calculation and obvious slips in it.

2.
The parties, whom the Registrar shall duly notify, may
lodge written observations within a period prescribed by the
President.

— the names of the agents, advisers and lawyers of the

parties,

The Court of First Instance shall take its decision in

3.
closed session.

— a statement of the forms of order sought by the parties,

— a statement, where appropriate, that the Advocate Gen-

eral delivered his opinion,

— a summary of the facts,

4.
The original of the rectification order shall be annexed
to the original of the rectified judgment. A note of this order
shall be made in the margin of the original of the rectified
judgment.

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Article 85

If the Court of First Instance should omit to give a decision on
costs, any party may within a month after service of the
judgment apply to the Court of First Instance to supplement
its judgment.

The application shall be served on the opposite party and the
President shall prescribe a period within which that party may
lodge written observations.

The Court of First Instance may order an intervener other than
those mentioned in the preceding subparagraph to bear his
own costs.

5.
A party who discontinues or withdraws from proceed-
ings shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been
applied for in the observations of the other party on the
discontinuance. However, upon application by the party who
discontinues or withdraws from proceedings, the costs shall
be borne by the other party if this appears justified by the
conduct of that party.

After these observations have been lodged, the Court of First
Instance shall decide both on the admissibility and on the
substance of the application.

Where the parties have come to an agreement on costs, the
decision as to costs shall be in accordance with that agreement.

Article 86

If costs are not applied for, the parties shall bear their own
costs.

The Registrar shall arrange for the publication of cases before
the Court of First Instance.

6. Where a case does not proceed to judgment, the costs
shall be in the discretion of the Court of First Instance.

C h a p t e r 6

COSTS

Article 87 (2) (4)

A decision as to costs shall be given in the final judgment

1.
or in the order which closes the proceedings.

The unsuccessful party shall be ordered to pay the costs
2.
if they have been applied for in the successful party’s pleadings.

Where there are several unsuccessful parties the Court of First
Instance shall decide how the costs are to be shared.

3. Where each party succeeds on some and fails on other
heads, or where the circumstances are exceptional, the Court
of First Instance may order that the costs be shared or that
each party bear its own costs.

Article 88

Without prejudice to the second subparagraph of Article 87(3),
in proceedings between the Communities and their servants
the institutions shall bear their own costs.

Article 89

Costs necessarily incurred by a party in enforcing a judgment
or order of the Court of First Instance shall be refunded by the
opposite party on the scale in force in the State where the
enforcement takes place.

Article 90

Proceedings before the Court of First Instance shall be free of
charge, except that:

(a) where a party has caused the Court of First Instance to
incur avoidable costs, the Court of First Instance may
order that party to refund them;

The Court of First
Instance may order a party, even if
successful, to pay costs which it considers that party to have
unreasonably or vexatiously caused the opposite party to
incur.

(b) where copying or translation work is carried out at the
request of a party, the cost shall, in so far as the Registrar
considers it excessive, be paid for by that party on the
scale of charges referred to in Article 24(5).

The Member States and institutions which intervened in

4.
the proceedings shall bear their own costs.

Article 91

The States, other than the Member States, which are parties to
the EEA Agreement, and also the EFTA Surveillance Authority,
shall bear their own costs if they intervene in the proceedings.

Without prejudice to the preceding Article, the following shall
be regarded as recoverable costs:

(a)

sums payable to witnesses and experts under Article 74;

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(b)

expenses necessarily incurred by the parties for the
purpose of the proceedings, in particular the travel and
subsistence expenses and the remuneration of agents,
advisers or lawyers.

2.
If the application is made prior to proceedings which the
applicant wishes to commence, it shall briefly state the subject
of such proceedings.

Article 92

1.
If there is a dispute concerning the costs to be recovered,
the Court of First Instance hearing the case shall, on application
by the party concerned and after hearing the opposite party,
make an order, from which no appeal shall lie.

The parties may, for the purposes of enforcement, apply

2.
for an authenticated copy of the order.

Article 93

Sums due from the cashier of the Court of First Instance
1.
shall be paid in the currency of the country where the Court
of First Instance has its seat.

At the request of the person entitled to any sum, it shall be
paid in the currency of the country where the expenses to be
refunded were incurred or where the steps in respect of which
payment is due were taken.

Other debtors shall make payment in the currency of

2.
their country of origin.

3.
Conversions of currency shall be made at the official
rates of exchange ruling on the day of payment in the country
where the Court of First Instance has its seat.

C h a p t e r 7

LEGAL AID

Article 94 (4)

The application need not be made through a lawyer.

The President shall, after considering the written observations
of the opposite party, decide whether legal aid should be
granted in full or in part, or whether it should be refused. He
shall consider whether there is manifestly no cause of action.
He may refer the matter to the Court of First Instance.

The decision shall be taken by way of an order without giving
reasons, and no appeal shall lie therefrom.

Article 95 (4)

1.
The Court of First Instance, by any order by which it
decides that a person is entitled to receive legal aid, shall order
that a lawyer be appointed to act for him.

If the person does not indicate his choice of lawyer, or if
2.
the Court of First
Instance considers that his choice is
unacceptable, the Registrar shall send a copy of the order and
of the application for legal aid to the authority named in
Annex II to the Rules supplementing the Rules of Procedure of
the Court of Justice, being the competent authority of the State
concerned.

3.
The Court of First Instance, in the light of the suggestions
made by that authority, shall of its own motion appoint a
lawyer to act for the person concerned.

4.
An order granting legal aid may specify an amount to be
paid to the lawyer appointed to act for the person concerned
or fix a limit which the lawyer’s disbursements and fees may
not, in principle, exceed.

Article 96

The Court of First Instance may at any time, either of its
own motion or on application, withdraw legal aid if the
circumstances which led to its being granted alter during the
proceedings.

A party who is wholly or in part unable to meet the

1.
costs of the proceedings may at any time apply for legal aid.

Article 97 (4)

The application shall be accompanied by evidence of the
applicant’s need of assistance, and in particular by a document
from the competent authority certifying his lack of means.

1. Where legal aid is granted, the cashier of the Court of
First Instance shall advance the funds necessary to meet the
expenses.

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2.
The President, who may refer the matter to the Court of
First Instance, shall adjudicate on the lawyer’s disbursements
and fees; he may, on application by the lawyer, order that he
receive an advance.

The Registrar shall prepare and certify the copies of documents
to be served, save where the parties themselves supply the
copies in accordance with Article 43(1).

3.
In its decision as to costs the Court of First Instance may
order the payment to the cashier of the Court of First Instance
of the whole or any part of amounts advanced as legal aid.

The Registrar shall take steps to obtain the recovery of these
sums from the party ordered to pay them.

C h a p t e r 8

DISCONTINUANCE

Article 98 (2) (6)

If, before the Court of First Instance has given its decision, the
parties reach a settlement of their dispute and intimate to the
Court of First Instance the abandonment of their claims, the
President shall order the case to be removed from the register
and shall give a decision as to costs in accordance with
Article 87(5) having regard to any proposals made by the
parties on the matter.

This provision shall not apply to proceedings under
Articles 230 and 232 of the EC Treaty, Articles 33 and 35 of
the ECSC Treaty and Articles 146 and 148 of the EAEC Treaty.

Article 99

If the applicant informs the Court of First Instance in writing
that he wishes to discontinue the proceedings, the President
shall order the case to be removed from the register and shall
give a decision as to costs in accordance with Article 87(5).

C h a p t e r 9

SERVICE

Article 100 (6)

1. Where these Rules require that a document be served on
a person, the Registrar shall ensure that service is effected at
that person’s address for service either by the dispatch of a
copy of the document by registered post with a form for
acknowledgement of receipt or by personal delivery of the
copy against a receipt.

2. Where, in accordance with the second subparagraph of
Article 44(2), the addressee has agreed that service is to be
effected on him by telefax or other technical means of
communication, any procedural document other than a judg-
ment or order of the Court of First Instance may be served by
the transmission of a copy of the document by such means.

Where, for technical reasons or on account of the nature or
length of the document, such transmission is impossible or
impracticable, the document shall be served, if the addressee
has failed to state an address for service, at his address in
accordance with the procedures laid down in paragraph 1. The
addressee shall be so advised by telefax or other technical
means of communication. Service shall then be deemed to
have been effected on the addressee by registered post on the
tenth day following the lodging of the registered letter at the
post office of the place where the Court of First Instance has
its seat, unless it is shown by the acknowledgement of receipt
that the letter was received on a different date or the addressee
informs the Registrar, within three weeks of being advised by
telefax or other technical means of communication, that the
document to be served has not reached him.

C h a p t e r 1 0

TIME-LIMITS

Article 101 (2)

1.
Any period of time prescribed by the EC, ECSC and
EAEC Treaties, the Statutes of the Court of Justice or these
Rules for the taking of any procedural step shall be reckoned
as follows:

(a) Where a period expressed in days, weeks, months or
years is to be calculated from the moment at which an
event occurs or an action takes place, the day during
which that event occurs or that action takes place shall
not be counted as falling within the period in question;

(b) A period expressed in weeks, months or in years shall
end with the expiry of whichever day in the last week,
month or year is the same day of the week, or falls on the
same date, as the day during which the event or action
from which the period is to be calculated occurred or
took place. If, in a period expressed in months or in years,
the day on which it should expire does not occur in the
last month, the period shall end with the expiry of the
last day of that month;

(c) Where a period is expressed in months and days, it shall

first be reckoned in whole months, then in days;

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(d)

(e)

Periods shall include official holidays, Sundays and Satur-
days;

Periods shall not be suspended during the judicial
vacations.

from the publication of that measure, that period shall be
calculated, for the purposes of Article 101(1)(a), from the end
of the 14th day after publication thereof in the Official Journal
of the European Communities.

2.
If the period would otherwise end on a Saturday, Sunday
or official holiday, it shall be extended until the end of the first
following working day.

The list of official holidays drawn up by the Court of
Justice and published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities shall apply to the Court of First Instance.

Article 102 (4) (6)

1. Where the period of time allowed for commencing
proceedings against a measure adopted by an institution runs

The prescribed time-limits shall be extended on account

2.
of distance by a single period of ten days.

Article 103

Any time-limit prescribed pursuant to these Rules may

1.
be extended by whoever prescribed it.

2.
The President may delegate power of signature to the
Registrar for the purpose of fixing time-limits which, pursuant
to these Rules, it falls to the President to prescribe, or of
extending such time-limits.

TITLE 3

SPECIAL FORMS OF PROCEDURE

C h a p t e r 1

The application shall be made by a separate document

3.
and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 43 and 44.

SUSPENSION OF OPERATION OR ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER
INTERIM MEASURES

Article 105

Article 104 (2) (6)

1.
The application shall be served on the opposite party,
and the President of the Court of First Instance shall prescribe
a short period within which that party may submit written or
oral observations.

1.
An application to suspend the operation of any measure
adopted by an institution, made pursuant to Article 242 of the
EC Treaty, the second paragraph of Article 39 of the ECSC
Treaty and Article 157 of the EAEC Treaty, shall be admissible
only if the applicant is challenging that measure in proceedings
before the Court of First Instance.

An application for the adoption of any other interim measure
referred to in Article 243 of the EC Treaty, the third paragraph
of Article 39 of the ECSC Treaty and Article 158 of the EAEC
Treaty shall be admissible only if it is made by a party to a case
before the Court of First Instance and relates to that case.

The President of the Court of First Instance may order a

2.
preparatory inquiry.

The President of the Court of First Instance may grant the
application even before the observations of the opposite party
have been submitted. This decision may be varied or cancelled
even without any application being made by any party.

Article 106

2.
An application of a kind referred to in paragraph 1 of
this Article shall state the subject-matter of the proceedings,
the circumstances giving rise to urgency and the pleas of fact
and law establishing a prima facie case for the interim measures
applied for.

The President of the Court of First Instance shall either decide
on the application himself or refer it to the Chamber to which
the case has been assigned in the main proceedings or to the
Court of First Instance sitting in plenary session if the case has
been assigned to it.

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If the President of the Court of First Instance is absent or
prevented from attending, he shall be replaced by the President
or the most senior Judge, within the meaning of Article 6, of
the bench of the Court of First Instance to which the case has
been assigned.

Where the application is referred to a bench of the Court of
First Instance, that bench shall postpone all other cases and
shall give a decision. Article 105 shall apply.

Article 107

The decision on the application shall take the form of a
1.
reasoned order. The order shall be served on the parties
forthwith.

2.
The enforcement of the order may be made conditional
on the lodging by the applicant of security, of an amount and
nature to be fixed in the light of the circumstances.

Unless the order fixes the date on which the interim
lapse when final
the measure shall

3.
measure is to lapse,
judgment is delivered.

4.
The order shall have only an interim effect, and shall be
without prejudice to the decision on the substance of the case
by the Court of First Instance.

Article 108

The order granting the application shall fix, where appropriate,
a date on which the interim measure is to lapse.

C h a p t e r 2

PRELIMINARY ISSUES

Article 111 (4)

Where it is clear that the Court of First Instance has no
jurisdiction to take cognisance of an action or where the action
is manifestly inadmissible or manifestly lacking any foundation
in law, the Court of First Instance may, by reasoned order,
after hearing the Advocate General and without taking further
steps in the proceedings, give a decision on the action.

Article 112 (2)

The decision to refer an action to the Court of Justice, pursuant
to the second paragraph of Article 47 of the EC Statute, the
second paragraph of Article 47 of the ECSC Statute and the
second paragraph of Article 48 of the EAEC Statute, shall, in
the case of manifest lack of competence, be made by reasoned
order and without taking any further steps in the proceedings.

Article 113 (4)

The Court of First Instance may at any time, of its own motion,
consider whether there exists any absolute bar to proceeding
with an action or declare, after hearing the parties, that the
action has become devoid of purpose and that there is no need
to adjudicate on it; it shall give its decision in accordance with
Article 114(3) and (4).

On application by a party, the order may at any time be varied
or cancelled on account of a change in circumstances.

Article 114

Article 109

Rejection of an application for an interim measure shall not
bar the party who made it from making a further application
on the basis of new facts.

Article 110 (2) (6)

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply to applications to
suspend the enforcement of a decision of the Court of First
Instance or of any measure adopted by another institution,
submitted pursuant to Articles 244 and 256 of the EC Treaty,
Articles 44 and 92 of the ECSC Treaty and Articles 159 and
164 of the EAEC Treaty.

1.
A party applying to the Court of First Instance for a
decision on admissibility, on lack of competence or other
preliminary plea not going to the substance of the case shall
make the application by a separate document.

The application must contain the pleas of fact and law relied
on and the form of order sought by the applicant; any
supporting documents must be annexed to it.

2.
As soon as the application has been lodged, the President
shall prescribe a period within which the opposite party may
lodge a document containing a statement of the form of order
sought by that party and its pleas in law.

Unless the Court of First Instance otherwise decides, the

3.
remainder of the proceedings shall be oral.

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The Court of First

4.
Instance shall, after hearing the
Advocate General, decide on the application or reserve its
decision for the final judgment. It shall refer the case to the
Court of Justice if the case falls within the jurisdiction of that
Court.

Article 116 (6)

1.

The application shall be served on the parties.

If the Court of First Instance refuses the application or reserves
its decision, the President shall prescribe new time-limits for
further steps in the proceedings.

The President shall give the parties an opportunity to submit
their written or oral observations before deciding on the
application.

C h a p t e r 3

INTERVENTION

Article 115 (2) (6)

1.
An application to intervene must be made either within
six weeks of the publication of the notice referred to in
Article 24(6) or, subject to Article 116(6), before the decision
to open the oral procedure as provided for in Article 53.

2.

The application shall contain:

(a)

the description of the case;

(b)

the description of the parties;

The President shall decide on the application by order or shall
refer the decision to the Court of First Instance. The order
must be reasoned if the application is dismissed.

2.
If an intervention for which application has been made
within the period of six weeks prescribed in Article 115(1) is
allowed, the intervener shall receive a copy of every document
served on the parties. The President may, however, on
application by one of the parties, omit secret or confidential
documents.

The intervener must accept the case as he finds it at the

3.
time of his intervention.

4.
In the cases referred to in paragraph 2 above, the
President shall prescribe a period within which the intervener
may submit a statement in intervention.

(c)

the name and address of the intervener;

The statement in intervention shall contain:

(d)

(e)

(f)

the intervener’s address for service at the place where the
Court of First Instance has its seat;

(a)

a statement of the form of order sought by the intervener
in support of or opposing, in whole or in part, the form
of order sought by one of the parties;

the form of order sought, by one or more of the parties,
in support of which the intervener is applying for leave
to intervene;

a statement of the circumstances establishing the right to
intervene, where the application is submitted pursuant to
the second or third paragraph of Article 37 of the EC
Statute, Article 34 of the ECSC Statute or the second
paragraph of Article 38 of the EAEC Statute.

(b)

the pleas in law and arguments relied on by the intervener;

(c) where appropriate, the nature of any evidence offered.

5.
After the statement in intervention has been lodged, the
President shall, where necessary, prescribe a time-limit within
which the parties may reply to that statement.

Articles 43 and 44 shall apply.

3.
The intervener shall be represented in accordance with
Article 17 of the EC Statute, the first and second paragraphs
of Article 20 of the ECSC Statute and Article 17 of the EAEC
Statute.

6. Where the application to intervene is made after the
expiry of the period of six weeks prescribed in Article 115(1),
the intervener may, on the basis of the Report for the Hearing
communicated to him, submit his observations during the oral
procedure.

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C h a p t e r 4

(c)

JUDGMENTS OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE DELIVERED
AFTER ITS DECISION HAS BEEN SET ASIDE AND THE CASE
REFERRED BACK TO IT

In the month following the simultaneous communication
to the intervener of the observations of the applicant and
the defendant, the intervener may lodge a statement of
written observations. The time allowed to the intervener
for lodging it may in no case be less than two months
from the service upon him of the judgment of the Court
of Justice.

Article 117

Where the Court of Justice sets aside a judgment or an order
of the Court of First Instance and refers the case back to that
Court, the latter shall be seised of the case by the judgment so
referring it.

2. Where the written procedure before the Court of First
Instance had not been completed when the judgment referring
the case back to the Court of First Instance was delivered, it
shall be resumed, at the stage which it had reached, by means
of measures of organisation of procedure adopted by the Court
of First Instance.

Article 118 (5)

3.
The Court of First Instance may, if the circumstances so
justify, allow supplementary statements of written obser-
vations to be lodged.

1. Where the Court of Justice sets aside a judgment or an
order of a Chamber, the President of the Court of First Instance
may assign the case to another Chamber composed of the
same number of Judges.

2. Where the Court of Justice sets aside a judgment delivered
or an order made by the Court of First Instance sitting in
plenary session, the case shall be assigned to that Court as so
constituted.

Justice sets aside a judgment
2a. Where the Court of
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.

Article 120

The procedure shall be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of Title II of these Rules.

Article 121

The Court of First Instance shall decide on the costs relating to
the proceedings instituted before it and to the proceedings on
the appeal before the Court of Justice.

C h a p t e r 5

In the cases provided for in paragraphs 1, 2 and 2a of

3.
this Article, Articles 13(2), 14(1) and 51 shall apply.

JUDGMENTS BY DEFAULT AND APPLICATIONS TO SET THEM
ASIDE

Article 119

Article 122 (4)

1. Where the written procedure before the Court of First
Instance has been completed when the judgment referring the
case back to it is delivered, the course of the procedure shall
be as follows:

If a defendant on whom an application initiating pro-
1.
ceedings has been duly served fails to lodge a defence to the
application in the proper form within the time prescribed, the
applicant may apply to the Court of First Instance for judgment
by default.

(a) Within two months from the service upon him of the
judgment of the Court of Justice the applicant may lodge
a statement of written observations;

The application shall be served on the defendant. The Court of
First Instance may decide to open the oral procedure on the
application.

(b)

In the month following the communication to him of
that statement, the defendant may lodge a statement of
written observations. The time allowed to the defendant
for lodging it may in no case be less than two months
from the service upon him of the judgment of the Court
of Justice;

2.
Before giving judgment by default the Court of First
Instance shall consider whether the application initiating
proceedings is admissible, whether the appropriate formalities
have been complied with, and whether the application appears
well founded. It may order a preparatory inquiry.

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3.
A judgment by default shall be enforceable. The Court of
First Instance may, however, grant a stay of execution until it
has given its decision on any application under paragraph 4 of
this Article to set aside the judgment, or it may make execution
subject to the provision of security of an amount and nature
to be fixed in the light of the circumstances; this security shall
be released if no such application is made or if the application
fails.

4.
Application may be made to set aside a judgment by
default. The application to set aside the judgment must be
made within one month from the date of service of the
judgment and must be lodged in the form prescribed by
Articles 43 and 44.

(c)

indicate the reasons for which the third party was unable
to take part in the original case before the Court of First
Instance.

The application must be made against all the parties to the
original case.

Where the judgment has been published in the Official Journal
of the European Communities, the application must be lodged
within two months of the publication.

2.
The Court of First Instance may, on application by the
third party, order a stay of execution of the judgment. The
provisions of Title III, Chapter 1, shall apply.

5.
After the application has been served, the President shall
prescribe a period within which the other party may submit
his written observations.

The contested judgment shall be varied on the points on

3.
which the submissions of the third party are upheld.

The proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of Title II of these Rules.

The original of the judgment in the third-party proceedings
shall be annexed to the original of the contested judgment.
A note of the judgment in the third-party proceedings shall be
made in the margin of the original of the contested judgment.

6.
The Court of First Instance shall decide by way of a
judgment which may not be set aside. The original of this
judgment shall be annexed to the original of the judgment by
default. A note of the judgment on the application to set aside
shall be made in the margin of the original of the judgment by
default.

4. Where an appeal before the Court of Justice and an
application initiating third-party proceedings before the Court
of First Instance contest the same judgment of the Court of
First Instance, the Court of First Instance may, after hearing
the parties, stay the proceedings until the Court of Justice has
delivered its judgment.

C h a p t e r 6

EXCEPTIONAL REVIEW PROCEDURES

Section 1 — Third-party proceedings

Article 123

Article 124 (5)

The application initiating third-party proceedings shall be
assigned to the Chamber which delivered the judgment which
is the subject of the application; if the Court of First Instance
sitting in plenary session delivered the judgment, the appli-
cation shall be assigned to it.
If the judgment has been
delivered by a single Judge, the application initiating third-
party proceedings shall be assigned to that Judge.

Section 2 — Revision

Article 125 (2)

1.
Articles 43 and 44 shall apply to an application initiating
third-party proceedings. In addition such an application shall:

(a)

specify the judgment contested;

(b)

state how that judgment is prejudicial to the rights of the
third party;

Without prejudice to the period of ten years prescribed in the
third paragraph of Article 41 of the EC Statute, the third
paragraph of Article 38 of the ECSC Statute and the third
paragraph of Article 42 of the EAEC Statute, an application
for revision of a judgment shall be made within three months
of the date on which the facts on which the application is
based came to the applicant’s knowledge.

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Article 126

Article 128

Articles 43 and 44 shall apply to an application for

1.
revision. In addition such an application shall:

(a)

specify the judgment contested;

Where an appeal before the Court of Justice and an application
for revision before the Court of First Instance concern the
same judgment of the Court of First Instance, the Court of First
Instance may, after hearing the parties, stay the proceedings
until the Court of Justice has delivered its judgment.

(b)

indicate the points on which the application is based;

Section 3 — Interpretation of judgments

(c)

set out the facts on which the application is based;

(d)

indicate the nature of the evidence to show that there are
facts justifying revision of the judgment, and that the
time-limits laid down in Article 125 have been observed.

Article 129 (5)

An application for interpretation of a judgment shall be
1.
made in accordance with Articles 43 and 44. In addition it
shall specify:

The application must be made against all parties to the

2.
case in which the contested judgment was given.

(a)

the judgment in question;

(b)

the passages of which interpretation is sought.

Article 127 (5)

The application must be made against all the parties to the
case in which the judgment was given.

1.
The application for revision shall be assigned to the
Chamber which delivered the judgment which is the subject of
the application; if the Court of First Instance sitting in plenary
session delivered the judgment,
the application shall be
assigned to it. If the judgment has been delivered by a single
Judge, the application for revision shall be assigned to that
Judge.

2.
The application for interpretation shall be assigned to
the Chamber which delivered the judgment which is the
subject of the application; if the Court of First Instance sitting
in plenary session delivered the judgment, the application shall
be assigned to it. If the judgment has been delivered by a single
Judge, the application for interpretation shall be assigned to
that Judge.

2. Without prejudice to its decision on the substance, the
Court of First
Instance shall, after hearing the Advocate
General, having regard to the written observations of the
parties, give its decision on the admissibility of the application.

3.
The Court of First Instance shall give its decision in the
form of a judgment after having given the parties an oppor-
tunity to submit their observations and after hearing the
Advocate General.

If

the Court of First

Instance finds the application
3.
admissible, it shall proceed to consider the substance of the
application and shall give its decision in the form of a judgment
in accordance with these Rules.

The original of the interpreting judgment shall be annexed to
the
the original of
interpreting judgment shall be made in the margin of the
original of the judgment interpreted.

interpreted. A note of

the judgment

4.
The original of the revising judgment shall be annexed
to the original of the judgment revised. A note of the revising
judgment shall be made in the margin of the original of the
judgment revised.

4. Where an appeal before the Court of Justice and an
application for interpretation before the Court of First Instance
concern the same judgment of the Court of First Instance, the
Court of First Instance may, after hearing the parties, stay
the proceedings until the Court of Justice has delivered its
judgment.

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TITLE IV (3)

PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Article 130

Subject

this Title,

1.
the
to the special provisions of
provisions of these Rules of Procedure shall apply to proceed-
ings brought against the Office for Harmonisation in the
Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) and against the
Community Plant Variety Office (both hereinafter referred to
as ‘the Office’), and concerning the application of the rules
relating to an intellectual property regime.

2.
The provisions of this Title shall not apply to actions
brought directly against the Office without prior proceedings
before a Board of Appeal.

Article 131

1.
The application shall be drafted in one of the languages
described in Article 35(1), according to the applicant’s choice.

The language in which the application is drafted shall
2.
become the language of the case if the applicant was the only
party to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal or if
another party to those proceedings does not object to this
within a period laid down for that purpose by the Registrar
after the application has been lodged.

If, within that period, the parties to the proceedings before the
Board of Appeal inform the Registrar of their agreement on
the choice, as the language of the case, of one of the languages
referred to in Article 35(1), that language shall become the
language of the case before the Court of First Instance.

In the event of an objection to the choice of the language of
the case made by the applicant within the period referred to
above and in the absence of an agreement on the matter
between the parties to the proceedings before the Board of
Appeal, the language in which the application for registration
in question was filed at the Office shall become the language
of the case. If, however, on a reasoned request by any party
and after hearing the other parties, the President finds that the
use of that language would not enable all parties to the
proceedings before the Board of Appeal to follow the proceed-
ings and defend their interests and that only the use of another
language from among those mentioned in Article 35(1) makes
it possible to remedy that situation, he may designate that
other language as the language of the case; the President may
refer the matter to the Court of First Instance.

3.
In the pleadings and other documents addressed to the
Court of First Instance and during the oral procedure, the
applicant may use the language chosen by him in accordance
with paragraph 1 and each of the other parties may use a
language chosen by that party from those mentioned in
Article 35(1).

4.
If, by virtue of paragraph 2, a language other than that
in which the application is drafted becomes the language of
the case,
the Registrar shall cause the application to be
translated into the language of the case.

Each party shall be required, within a reasonable period to be
prescribed for that purpose by the Registrar, to produce a
translation into the language of the case of the pleadings or
documents other than the application that are lodged by that
party in a language other than the language of the case
pursuant to paragraph 3. The party producing the translation,
which shall be authentic within the meaning of Article 37,
shall certify its accuracy. If the translation is not produced
within the period prescribed, the pleading or the procedural
document in question shall be removed from the file.

The Registrar shall cause everything said during the oral
procedure to be translated into the language of the case and,
at the request of any party, into the language used by that
party in accordance with paragraph 3.

Article 132

1. Without prejudice to Article 44, the application shall
contain the names of all the parties to the proceedings before
the Board of Appeal and the addresses which they had given
for the purposes of the notifications to be effected in the
course of those proceedings.

The contested decision of the Board of Appeal shall be
appended to the application. The date on which the applicant
was notified of that decision must be indicated.

If the application does not comply with paragraph 1,

2.
Article 44(6) shall apply.

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Article 133

Such submissions seeking orders or putting forward pleas in
law in the intervener’s response shall cease to have effect
should the applicant discontinue the proceedings.

1.
The Registrar shall inform the Office and all the parties
to the proceedings before the Board of Appeal of the lodging
of the application. He shall arrange for service of the appli-
cation after determining the language of the case in accordance
with Article 131(2).

2.
The application shall be served on the Office, as defend-
ant, and on the parties to the proceedings before the Board of
Appeal other than the applicant. Service shall be effected in
the language of the case.

Service of the application on a party to the proceedings before
the Board of Appeal shall be effected by registered post with a
form of acknowledgment of receipt at the address given by the
party concerned for the purposes of the notifications to be
effected in the course of the proceedings before the Board of
Appeal.

In derogation from Article 122, the default procedure
4.
shall not apply where an intervener, as referred to in para-
graph 1 of this Article, has responded to the application in the
manner and within the period prescribed.

Article 135

The Office

1.
referred to in
Article 134(1) may submit responses to the application within
a period of two months from the service of the application.

interveners

and the

3.
Once the application has been served, the Office shall
forward to the Court of First Instance the file relating to the
proceedings before the Board of Appeal.

Article 46 shall apply to the responses.

Article 134

1.
The parties to the proceedings before the Board of
Appeal other than the applicant may participate, as interveners,
in the proceedings before the Court of First Instance.

The interveners referred to in paragraph 1 shall have the

2.
same procedural rights as the main parties.

They may support the form of order sought by a main party
and they may apply for a form of order and put forward pleas
in law independently of those applied for and put forward by
the main parties.

The application and the responses may be supplemented
2.
by replies and rejoinders by the parties, including the inter-
veners referred to in Article 134(1), where the President, on a
reasoned application made within two weeks of service of the
responses or replies, considers such further pleading necessary
and allows it in order to enable the party concerned to put
forward its point of view.

The President shall prescribe the period within which such
pleadings are to be submitted.

3. Without prejudice to the foregoing, in the cases referred
to in Article 134(3), the other parties may, within a period of
two months of service upon them of the response, submit a
pleading confined to responding to the form of order sought
and the pleas in law submitted for the first time in the response
of an intervener. That period may be extended by the President
on a reasoned application from the party concerned.

3.
An intervener, as referred to in paragraph 1, may, in his
response lodged in accordance with Article 135(1), seek an
order annulling or altering the decision of the Board of Appeal
on a point not raised in the application and put forward pleas
in law not raised in the application.

The parties’ pleadings may not change the subject-matter

4.
of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal.

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Article 136

1. Where an action against a decision of a Board of Appeal
is successful, the Court of First Instance may order the Office
to bear only its own costs.

2.
Costs necessarily incurred by the parties for the purposes
of the proceedings before the Board of Appeal and costs
incurred for the purposes of the production, prescribed by the
second subparagraph of Article 131(4), of translations of
pleadings or other documents into the language of the case
shall be regarded as recoverable costs.

In the event of inaccurate translations being produced, the
second subparagraph of Article 87(3) shall apply.

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 136a (6)

The Court of First Instance may issue practice directions
relating, in particular, to the preparations for and conduct of
hearings before it and to the lodging of written pleadings or
observations.

Article 137 (3)

These Rules, which are authentic in the languages mentioned
in Article 35(1), shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities. They shall enter into force on the first
day of the second month from the date of their publication.