Practice Directions
Date: 2002-03-14
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: General Court (EU), information processing, operation of the Institutions

L 87/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

4.4.2002

COURT OF JUSTICE

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

PRACTICE DIRECTIONS

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES,

Pursuant to Article 136a of its Rules of Procedure,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

It is in the interests of the efficient conduct of proceed-
ings before the Court of First Instance (hereinafter ‘the
Court’) and the expeditious processing of cases that
practice directions should be issued to the lawyers and
agents of parties, dealing with the manner in which
pleadings and other procedural documents relating to
the written procedure are to be submitted.

The present directions reflect, explain and complement
provisions in the Court's Rules of Procedure and are
designed to enable lawyers and agents to allow for the
constraints under which the Court operates, and particu-
larly those attributable to translation requirements and
the electronic processing of procedural documentation.

The Instructions to the Registrar dated 3 March 1994
(OJ L 78 of 22 March 1994, p. 32), as amended on 29
March 2001 (OJ L 119 of 27 April 2001, p. 2), require
the Registrar to ensure that documents placed on a
case-file comply with the provisions of the Statutes of
the Court of Justice, the Rules of Procedure and any
practice directions of
together with the
Instructions to the Registrar, and, in particular, oblige
him to require that any irregularities of form in docu-
in default of such
ments lodged be made good and,
regularisation,
to
accept them if they do not comply with the provisions
of the Statutes of the Court of Justice or the Rules of
Procedure.

that he refuse, where appropriate,

the Court,

Compliance with these practice directions will assure
lawyers and agents that the pleadings and documents
lodged by them may properly be processed by the Court
and will not, with respect to the matters dealt with in
these practice directions, entail the application of Article
90(a) of the Rules of Procedure.

(5)

(6)

These practice directions have been drawn up following
consultations with the agents of the Member States and
the institutions acting in proceedings before the Court,
and with the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of
the European Community (CCBE), and take account of
the observations made by them.

In addition, lawyers and agents are strongly advised to
have regard to the Notes for the Guidance of Counsel
for the written procedure and for the oral procedure, as
issued by the Registrar,

HEREBY ADOPTS THE FOLLOWING PRACTICE DIRECTIONS:

I. USE OF TECHNICAL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

1. A copy of the signed original of a procedural document
may be transmitted to the Registry in accordance with
Article 43(6) of the Rules of Procedure either:

— by telefax (to fax number: (352) 43 03 21 00), or

— by

electronic mail
cfi.registry@curia.eu.int).

(electronic mail

address:

2. In the case of transmission by electronic mail, only a
scanned copy of the signed original will be accepted. A
document despatched in the form of an ordinary elec-
tronic file which is unsigned or bears an electronic signa-
ture or a facsimile signature generated by computer will
not be treated as complying with Article 43(6) of the Rules
of Procedure. No correspondence relating to a case which
is received by the Court in the form of an ordinary elec-
tronic mail message will be taken into consideration.

In order to enable scanned documents to be uploaded to
the Court's electronic archives, such documents should be
scanned at a resolution of 300 DPI and in PDF format
(images plus text), using Acrobat or Readiris 7 Pro soft-
ware.

3. The lodgment of a document by telefax or electronic mail
will be treated as complying with the relevant time limit
only if the signed original thereof reaches the Registry
prior to the expiry of the period of 10 days following

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 87/49

such lodgment, as specified in Article 43(6) of the Rules of
Procedure. The signed original must be sent without delay,
immediately after the despatch of the copy, without any
corrections or amendments, even of a minor nature, being
made thereto. In the event of any divergence between the
signed original and the copy previously lodged, only the
date of lodgment of the signed original will be taken into
consideration.

4. Where, in accordance with Article 44(2) of the Rules of
Procedure, a party consents to be served by telefax or
other technical means of communication, the statement to
that effect must specify the telefax number and/or the
electronic mail address to which the Registry may send
that party documents
to be served. The recipient's
computer must be equipped with suitable software (for
example, Acrobat or Readiris 7 Pro) enabling communica-
tions from the Registry, which will be transmitted in PDF
format, to be read.

II. LODGING OF PLEADINGS

1. Pleadings and other procedural documents lodged by the
parties must be submitted in such a way as to enable them
to be processed electronically by the Court, in particular
by means of document scanning and character recogni-
tion.

2. the case number (T-…/…), where it has already been

notified by the Registry;

3. the names of the applicant and of the defendant;

4. the name of the party on whose behalf the pleading is

lodged.

3. Each paragraph of the pleading must be numbered.

4. The signature of the lawyer or agent acting for the party
concerned must appear at the end of the pleading.

III. THE FORM AND CONTENT OF THE APPLICATION AND OF

THE DEFENCE

1. All applications initiating proceedings must contain the
statements prescribed by Article 44(1) and (2) of the Rules
of Procedure.

2. The following must appear at

the beginning of each

application:

1. the name and address of the applicant;

2. the name and capacity of the applicant's lawyer or

agent;

3. the identity of the party against whom the application

is made;

In order
following requirements must be complied with:

the use of such technology,

to permit

the

4. the statements referred to in Article 44(2) of the Rules
of Procedure (statement of an address for service or
agreement to service by technical means of communi-
cation).

1. the paper must be white, unlined and A4 size, with the

text appearing on one side of the page only;

2. pages of pleadings and annexes, if any, must be placed
together in such a way as to enable them to be easily
undone. They must not be bound together or fixed to
each other by any other means (e.g. glued or stapled);

3. the text must appear in characters of a current type
(such as Times New Roman, Courier or Arial), in at
least 12 pt in the body of the text and at least 10 pt in
the footnotes, with one-and-a-half
line spacing and
upper, lower, left and right margins of at least 2,5 cm;

4. the pages of the pleading must be numbered consecu-
tively in the top right-hand corner. Such consecutive
page numbering must also cover all the pages of the
annexes to the pleading, so as to make it possible to
ensure, by means of a page count, that all the pages of
the annexes have been duly scanned.

3. The application must contain, either at the beginning or at
the end, the precise wording of the form of order sought
in the decision of the Court (such as an order annulling an
identified measure or awarding a sum by way of damages).

4. In the case of an application for annulment, a copy of the
contested measure must be annexed to the application and
identified as such.

5. Each application must be accompanied by a summary of
the pleas in law and main arguments relied on, designed to
facilitate publication of the notice prescribed by Article 24
of the Rules of Procedure, which will be prepared by the
Registry. The summary in question must not be more than
two pages long.

6. Together with the application, but separately from the
documents annexed in support thereof, the documents
referred to in Article 44(3) and (5)(a) and (b) of the Rules
of Procedure must be produced.

2. The following information must appear on the first page

of the pleading:

7. The introductory part of the application must be followed
by a brief account of the facts giving rise to the dispute.

1. the title of the pleading (application, defence, reply,
rejoinder, application for leave to intervene, statement
in intervention, objection of inadmissibility, observa-
tions on …, replies to questions, etc.);

8. Legal arguments must be set forth and grouped by refer-
ence to the particular pleas in law to which they relate,
and ideally each argument or group of arguments should
be preceded by a summary statement of the relevant plea.

L 87/50

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

4.4.2002

9. All evidence offered in support must be expressly and
accurately indicated, in such a way as to show clearly the
facts to be proved:

— documentary evidence offered in support must refer to
in a schedule of
the relevant document number
annexed documents. Alternatively, if a document is not
in the possession of the party concerned, the pleading
must clearly indicate where and how the document
may be obtained,

— where oral

testimony is sought

to be given, each
proposed witness or person from whom information is
to be obtained must be clearly identified.

10. Each defence must contain the statements prescribed by

Article 46(1) of the Rules of Procedure.

11. In addition to the case-number and a statement of the
name of the applicant, the following must appear at the
start of each defence:

1. the name and address of the defendant;

2. the name and capacity of the defendant's lawyer or

agent;

3. the statements referred to in Article 44(2) of the Rules
of Procedure (specification of an address for service or
to which documents to be served by technical means of
communication may be sent).

12. The precise wording of the form of order sought by the
defendant in the decision of the Court must be specified
either at the beginning or at the end of the defence.

13. Points 6, 8 and 9 above shall apply to the defence.

14. Any fact alleged by the other party which is contested
must be accurately indicated and the basis on which it is
contested must be stated explicitly.

IV. ANNEXES TO PLEADINGS

1. Only those documents mentioned in the actual text of a
pleading and which are necessary in order to prove or
illustrate its contents may be submitted as annexes.

An annex should also be numbered in such a way as to
identify the pleading in which it is produced (thus, for
example, Annex A.1, A.2, etc. in an application; Annex
B.1, B.2, etc. in a defence; Annex C.1, C.2, etc. in a reply;
Annex D.1, D.2, etc.

in a rejoinder).

3. Where a pleading contains more than 10 annexes, the
schedule of annexes must be accompanied by an appendix
identifying and setting out the relevant passages in each
annex on which the party wishes to rely, save in the case
of documents not exceeding three pages in length.

4. The actual annexes, as such, should follow the appendix in

order, as per the numbering of the schedule.

5. Where, for the convenience of the Court, copies of judg-
legal writings or legislation are annexed to a
ments,
pleading, they must be appended separately from the other
annexes and must not be listed in the appendix of annexes.

6. Where annexes are documents which themselves contain
annexes, they must be arranged and numbered in such a
way as to avoid all possibility of confusion and should
where necessary be separated by dividers.

7. Each reference in the text of the pleading to a document
lodged must state the relevant annex number as given in
the schedule of annexes and indicate the pleading with
which the annex has been lodged, in the manner described
at point IV.2 above.

V. LENGTH OF PLEADINGS

1. In the interests both of the parties themselves and of the
proper administration of justice, pleadings must concen-
trate on essential matters and be as brief as possible.
Excessively lengthy pleadings complicate consideration of
the case-file and are a prime cause of delay in the disposal
of cases.

2. Depending on the nature of the issues and the circum-
stances of the case, the maximum number of pages should
not in principle exceed:

— 20-50 pages for the application and the defence,

2. Annexes will be accepted only if they are accompanied by
a schedule indicating, for each document annexed:

— 10-25 pages for the reply and the rejoinder,

1. the number of the annex,

2. a short description of

‘letter’),
followed by its date, author and addressee and its
number of pages,

the document

(e.g.

— 10-20 pages for an objection of inadmissibility and for

observations thereon,

— 10-20 pages for statements in intervention.

3. the page reference and paragraph number

in the
pleading where the document is mentioned and its
relevance is described.

Pleadings should wherever possible be shorter than the
maxima indicated above. In cases involving particularly
complex legal or factual
issues, those maxima may be
exceeded.

4.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 87/51

VI. APPLICATIONS FOR EXPEDITED PROCEDURE

1. A party applying by separate document under Article 76a
of the Rules of Procedure for a case to be decided by
expedited procedure must briefly state the reasons for the
special urgency of the case.

2. As the expedited procedure is largely oral, such an applica-
tion will be granted only if the pleading (application or
defence) of the party requesting expedition is confined to a
summary of the pleas relied upon and where its annexes
are limited in number.

3. An application in respect of which expedited procedure is
requested must not in principle (depending on the nature
of the issues and the circumstances of the case) exceed a
maximum of 10 to 25 pages.

VII. APPLICATIONS FOR SUSPENSION OF OPERATION OR

ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER INTERIM MEASURES

1. The application must be made by a separate document. It
must be intelligible in itself, without necessitating reference
to the application lodged in the main proceedings.

2. An application for suspension of operation or enforcement
or for other interim measures must state, with the utmost
concision, the subject-matter of the proceedings, the pleas
of fact and law on which the main action is based (estab-
lishing a prima facie case on the merits in that action) and
the circumstances giving rise to urgency. It must specify
the measure(s) applied for. Sections III and IV above shall
apply.

3. Because an application for interim measures requires the
existence of a prima facie case to be assessed for the
purposes of a summary procedure, it must not, under any
circumstances, set out in full the text of the application in
the main proceedings.

4. In order that an application for interim measures may be
dealt with urgently, the number of pages it contains must
not in principle (depending on the nature of the issues and

the circumstances of
between 10 and 25.

the case) exceed a maximum of

VIII. APPLICATIONS FOR CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT

1. An application pursuant to Article 116(2) of the Rules of
Procedure for the exclusion on grounds of confidentiality
of any part of
the case-file from the
documents to be furnished to an intervener shall be made
by a separate document.

the contents of

2. Such an application must be strictly limited to material
which is genuinely confidential. It may not in any event
cover the entirety of a pleading and may only exception-
ally extend to the entirety of an annexed document. It
should usually be feasible to furnish a non-confidential
version in which passages, words or figures have been
deleted without harming the interest
to be
protected. An application which is inadequately detailed
will not be considered.

sought

3. An application must accurately identify the particulars or
passages to be excluded and briefly state the reasons for
which each of those particulars or passages is regarded as
confidential.

4. The application must be accompanied by a non-confiden-
tial version of each pleading or document concerned with
the confidential material deleted.

5. Where a party, despite a request in that regard from the
Registrar, fails to put an application for confidential treat-
ment into proper form to enable it to be considered, all
the procedural documents concerned will be furnished to
the intervener in accordance with Article 116(2) of the
Rules of Procedure.

Done at Luxembourg, 14 March 2002.

Registrar

H. JUNG

President

B. VESTERDORF