Case C-208/03 P: Appeal brought on 15 May 2003 (fax 10.05.2003) by J.M. Le Pen against the judgment delivered on 10 April 2003 by the Fifth Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in Case T-353/00 between J.M. Le Pen and the European Parliament, supported by the French Republic
Date: 2003-11-15
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Parliament, France, Member of Parliament, action for annulment (EU), parliamentary election, penalty

15.11.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 275/23

Appeal brought on 15 May 2003 (fax 10.05.2003) by
J.M. Le Pen against the judgment delivered on 10 April
2003 by the Fifth Chamber of the Court of First Instance
of the European Communities in Case T-353/00 between
J.M. Le Pen and the European Parliament, supported by
the French Republic

Although in principle emanating from the President of the
Parliament, the act is in the form of a communication to the
effect that the European Parliament takes note of the notifi-
cation from the French Government confirming Mr Le Pen’s
removal from office.

(Case C-208/03 P)

(2003/C 275/40)

An appeal against the judgment delivered on 10 April 2003
by the Fifth Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities in Case T-353/00 Le Pen v European
Parliament was brought before the Court of Justice of the
European Communities on 15 May 2003 (fax 10.5.2003) by
J.M. Le Pen, represented by F. Wagner, lawyer.

The appellant claims that the Court should:

— declare the appeal by J.M. Le Pen against the judgment of
10 April 2003 of the Court of First Instance to be
admissible;

— declare the action brought by J.M. Le Pen against the
decision taken in the form of a declaration by the
President of the European Parliament of 23 October 2003
in the following terms: ‘Pursuant to Article 12(2) of the
1976 Act, the European Parliament takes note of the
notification from the French Government confirming
[the appellant’s] removal from office’ to be admissible;

— set aside the contested judgment in whole or in part as

regards its various limbs and grounds;

— give judgment on the points of

law, quashing the
contested judgment, or, in the alternative refer the case
back to the Court of First Instance pursuant to Article 54
of the Statute of the Court;

— declare the contested act null and void;

— award J.M. Le Pen the sum of FRF 50 000 (or

EUR 7 622,45) as irrecoverable expenses;

— order the European Parliament to pay all the costs of the

appeal.

This is an act of a threefold nature:

— it has legal effects: in this case it is an act of the European
Parliament affecting Mr Le Pen’s legal position, his
removal from office being announced or found by the
contested act;

— it is definitive in nature, since it is an act which cannot be

described as preparatory;

— it has effects beyond the purely internal sphere of the
Parliament, since it affects Mr Le Pen’s legal position and
civil and political rights. The said decision by the President
of the European Parliament concerns the legal status of
the appellant, by depriving him of his elective office,
thus affecting electoral representation and ex post facto
distorting the result of the elections.

It is therefore a reviewable act and an action against it appears
to be possible given its very nature.

It would appear that, by a mistaken assessment of law and
fact, the Court of First Instance did not distinguish between
the question of admissibility (nature of the act) and substance
(competence of the author of the act).

It is only by retroactive reasoning, depriving an individual of
the legal decision to which he is entitled, that the Court of First
Instance, considering that the act had no substantive validity
by reason of the lack of competence of its author, concluded
that it not exist and that therefore the action was inadmissible.

Since the appeal should be held admissible, the action for the
annulment of the decision by the President of the European
Parliament of 23 October 2003 is based on the pleas in law
and main arguments relied upon in the action lodged on
21 November 2000 (1).

Pleas and main arguments

(1) Case T-353/00 Le Pen v European Parliament, OJ C 28 of

27.1.2001, p. 27.

The appeal is based on an infringement of Community law
committed by the Court of First Instance with regard to the
admissibility of the action against the contested act.