Instructions to the Registrar of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 5 July 2007
Date: 2007-07-05
Institutions: Court of First Instance
Subjects: General Court (EU), administrative procedure, job description, member of the Court of Justice (EU), operation of the Institutions, rules of procedure

4.9.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 232/1

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(Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory)

INTERNAL RULES AND RULES OF PROCEDURE

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE REGISTRAR OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES

of 5 July 2007

THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

ON A PROPOSAL FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE COURT OF FIRST
INSTANCE,

the officials and servants of

If a working day as referred to in the previous subparagraphs is a
holiday for
the institution,
arrangements shall be made for a skeleton staff to be on duty
at the Registry during the hours in which it is normally open to
the public.

Having regard to the Rules of Procedure adopted on 2 May 1991,
as subsequently amended, and in particular Article 23 thereof,

HAS LAID DOWN THE FOLLOWING:

2. The Registry shall be open to the public at the following
times:

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE REGISTRAR

12 noon,

— in the morning, from Monday to Friday, from 9.30 a.m. to

Article 1

The tasks of the Registrar

1. The Registrar shall be responsible for the maintenance of the
register of the Court and the files of pending cases, for the
acceptance, transmission, service and custody of documents, for
correspondence with the parties and third parties in relation to
pending cases, and for the custody of the seals of the Court. He
shall ensure that registry charges are collected and that sums due
to the Court treasury are recovered. He shall be responsible for
the publications of the Court.

2.
In carrying out the duties specified above, the Registrar shall
be assisted by an Assistant Registrar. In the absence of the
Registrar or in the event of his being prevented from carrying out
those duties, they shall be performed by the Assistant Registrar
who shall take the decisions reserved to the Registrar by the
Rules of Procedure of
the Court of First Instance or these
Instructions or delegated to him pursuant to these Instructions.

Article 2

Opening hours of the Registry

1. The offices of the Registry shall be open to the public every
working day.

All days other than Saturdays, Sundays and the official holidays
on the list referred to in Article 101(2) of the Rules of Procedure
shall be working days.

— in the afternoon, from Monday to Thursday, from 2.30 p.m.
to 5.30 p.m. and, except during the vacations provided for
in Article 34(1) of the Rules of Procedure, on Fridays from
2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

The Registry shall be open to the public half an hour before the
commencement of a hearing.

3. When the Registry is closed, procedural documents may be
validly lodged with the janitor at the entrances to the Court
buildings at any time of the day or night. The janitor shall make a
record, which shall constitute good evidence, of the date and
time of such lodgment and shall issue a receipt upon request.

Article 3

The register

1.
Judgments and orders as well as all the documents placed on
the file in cases brought before the Court shall be entered in the
register.

2.
Entries in the register shall be numbered consecutively; they
shall be made in the language of the case and contain the
information necessary for identifying the document, in particular
the date of registration, the number of the case and the nature of
the document.

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3. Where a correction is made to the register, a note to that
effect shall be made therein.

Article 18(4) of these Instructions, in the publications of the
Court of First Instance.

The register kept
in electronic form shall be set up and
maintained in such a way that no registration can be deleted
therefrom and that following any amendment or rectification the
original entry is preserved.

Article 5

The file and access to the file

4. The registration number of every document drawn up by the
Court shall be noted on its first page.

A note of the registration, indicating the registration number and
the date of entry in the register, shall be made on the original of
every procedural document lodged by the parties and on every
copy which is notified to them. This note shall be in the language
of the case. The note made on the original of the procedural
document shall be signed by the Registrar.

5. When a document is not entered in the register on the same
day on which it is lodged, the date of lodgment shall be entered
in the register and noted on the original and on the copies of the
procedural document concerned.

For

the purposes of

the application of

the previous
6.
paragraph, the following dates shall be taken into account,
depending on the circumstances:
the date on which the
procedural document was received by the Registrar or by a
Registry official or employee, the date referred to in Article 2(3)
above or, in the cases provided for in the first paragraph of
Article 54 of the Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 8(1)
of the Annex to that Statute, the date on which the procedural
document was lodged with the Registrar of the Court of Justice
or with the Registrar of the Civil Service Tribunal.

Article 4

The case number

1. When an application initiating proceedings is registered, the
case shall be given a serial number preceded by ‘T-’ and followed
by an indication of the year.

Applications for interim measures, applications to intervene,
applications for rectification or interpretation of
judgments,
applications for revision or initiating third-party proceedings,
applications for the taxation of costs and applications for legal
aid relating to pending cases shall be given the same serial
number as the principal action,
followed by a reference to
indicate that the proceedings concerned are special forms of
procedure. An action which is preceded by an application for
legal aid in connection therewith shall be given the same case
number as the latter. Where the Court of Justice refers a case
back to the Court of First Instance following an appeal, that case
shall keep the number previously given to it when it was before
the Court of First Instance.

2. The serial number of the case together with the names of the
in
parties shall be indicated on the procedural documents,
correspondence relating to the case and, without prejudice to

1. The case-file shall contain the originals,
including their
annexes, of the procedural documents produced by the parties,
with the exception of those whose acceptance is refused pursuant
to Article 7 of these Instructions, the decisions taken in the case,
including any decisions relating to refusal to accept documents,
reports for the hearing, minutes of the hearing, notices served by
the Registrar and any other documents or correspondence to be
taken into consideration in deciding the case.

If in doubt the Registrar shall refer the question whether a
document is to be placed on the case-file to the President in order
for a decision to be taken.

2. The documents contained in the file shall be given a serial
number.

3. The lawyers or agents of the parties to a case before the
Court or persons duly authorised by them may inspect the
original case-file, including administrative files produced before
the Court, at the Registry and may request copies or extracts of
procedural documents and of the register.

Lawyers or agents of parties granted leave to intervene and
lawyers or agents of all the parties to joined cases shall have the
same right of access to case-files, subject to the provisions of
Article 6(2) and (3) relating to the confidential treatment of
certain information or documents on the file.

4. The confidential and non-confidential versions of procedural
documents shall be kept in separate sections of the file. Access to
the confidential section of the file shall be confined to the parties
in respect of whom no confidential treatment has been ordered.

5. A document which is produced in a case and placed on the
file of that case may not be taken into account for the purpose of
preparing another case for hearing.

6. At the close of the proceedings, the case-file shall be closed
and bound. The closed file shall contain a list of the documents
on the file, an indication of their number, and a cover page
showing the serial number of the case, the parties and the date
on which the file was closed.

7. No third party, private or public, may have access to the
case-file or to the procedural documents without the express
authorisation of the President of the Court of First Instance or,
where the case is still pending, of the President of the formation
of the Court that is hearing the case, after the parties have been
heard. That authorisation may be granted only upon written
the third
request accompanied by a detailed explanation of
party’s legitimate interest in inspecting the file.

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Article 6

Confidential treatment

Non-compliance with the provisions referred to in points 57 and
59 of the Practice Directions to parties shall delay, or may delay,
as the case may be, the service of a pleading.

1. Without prejudice to Article 67(3) of the Rules of Procedure,
no consideration may be given to an application by the applicant
for any information or documents on the case-file to be treated
as confidential in relation to the defendant. Likewise, no such
application may be made by the defendant in relation to the
applicant.

2. A party may apply pursuant to Article 116(2) of the Rules of
Procedure for certain information or documents on the case-file
to be treated as confidential in relation to an intervener. Such an
application must be made in accordance with the provisions of
the Practice Directions to parties (points 74 to 77).

Where an application for confidential treatment does not comply
with the Practice Directions to parties, the Registrar shall request
the party concerned to put the application in order. If, despite
such a request, the application for confidential treatment is not
made to comply with the Practice Directions to parties, it will not
be able properly to be processed; a copy of every procedural
document in its entirety will then be furnished to the intervener
in accordance with Article 116(2) of the Rules of Procedure.

3. Where cases are joined, a party in one case may apply
pursuant to Article 50(2) of the Rules of Procedure for certain
information or documents on the case-file to be treated as
confidential
in relation to a party in a joined case. Such an
application must be made in accordance with the provisions of
the Practice Directions to parties (points 78 and 79).

Where an application for confidential treatment does not comply
with the Practice Directions to parties, the Registrar shall request
the party concerned to put the application in order. If, despite
such a request, the application for confidential treatment is not
made to comply with the Practice Directions to parties, it will not
be able properly to be processed; the other party in the joined
case will then have access to the whole case-file.

Article 7

Non-acceptance of documents and regularisation

1. The Registrar shall ensure that documents placed on the file
are in conformity with the provisions of the Statute of the Court
of Justice, the Rules of Procedure, the Practice Directions to
parties and these Instructions.

If necessary, he shall allow the parties a period of time for
making good any formal irregularities in the documents lodged.

2. The Registrar shall refuse to register pleadings or procedural
documents which are not provided for by the Rules of Procedure.
If in doubt the Registrar shall refer the matter to the President in
order for a decision to be taken.

3. Without prejudice to Article 43(6) of the Rules of Procedure,
concerning the lodgment of documents by fax or other technical
shall accept only
means of communication,
documents bearing the original signature of the party’s lawyer
or agent.

the Registrar

The Registrar may request the lodgment of a lawyer’s or agent’s
specimen signature, if necessary certified as a true specimen, in
order to enable him to verify that the first subparagraph of
Article 43(1) of the Rules of Procedure has been complied with.

4. Documents annexed to a pleading or procedural document
must be lodged in accordance with the provisions of the Practice
Directions to parties relating to the production of annexes to
pleadings.
the party concerned fails to make good the
irregularity, the Registrar shall refer the matter to the Judge-
Rapporteur for a decision, with the President’s agreement, on
whether to refuse to accept the annexes not in conformity with
the provisions of the Practice Directions to parties.

If

Save in the cases expressly provided for by the Rules of
5.
Procedure,
the Registrar shall refuse to accept pleadings or
procedural documents of the parties drawn up in a language
other than the language of the case.

Where documents annexed to a pleading or procedural
document are not accompanied by a translation into the
language of
the Registrar shall require the party
concerned to make good the irregularity if such a translation
appears necessary for the purposes of the efficient conduct of the
proceedings.

the case,

Where an application to intervene originating from a third party
other than a Member State is not drawn up in the language of the
case, the Registrar shall require the application to be put in order
If a version of such an
before it is served on the parties.
application drawn up in the language of the case is lodged within
the period prescribed for this purpose by the Registrar, the date
on which the first version, not in the language of the case, was
lodged shall be taken as the date on which the document was
lodged.

Service of a pleading shall be delayed in the event of non-
compliance with the provisions of
the Rules of Procedure
referred to in points 55 and 56 of the Practice Directions to
parties.

6. Where a party challenges the Registrar’s refusal to accept a
document, the Registrar shall submit the document concerned to
the President for a decision on whether it is to be accepted.

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Article 8

Presentation of originating applications

1. Where the Registrar considers that an application initiating
proceedings is not in conformity with Article 44(1) of the Rules
of Procedure, he shall suspend service of the application in order
that the Court may give a decision on the admissibility of the
action.

For

the purposes of

the production of

2.
the document
required by Article 44(3) of the Rules of Procedure certifying that
the lawyer acting for a party or assisting the party’s agent is
authorised to practise before a court of a Member State or of
another State which is a party to the Agreement on the European
Economic Area,
reference may be made to a document
previously lodged at the Registry of the Court.

3. Where the applicant is a legal person governed by private
law, documents to be produced by virtue of Article 44(5)(a) and
(b) of the Rules of Procedure must enable the following to be
verified:

— existence of authority;

— existence in law of the legal person;

— power and capacity of the authority’s signatory;

— proper conferment of the authority.

Article 9

Translations

1. The Registrar shall, in accordance with Article 36(1) of the
Rules of Procedure, arrange for everything said or written in the
course of the proceedings to be translated, at the request of a
Judge, an Advocate-General or a party, into the language of the
case or, where necessary, into another language as provided for in
Article 35(2) of the Rules of Procedure. Where, for the purposes
of the efficient conduct of the proceedings, a translation into
another language, as provided for in Article 35(1) of the Rules of
Procedure, is necessary, the Registrar shall also arrange for such a
translation to be made.

2.
If, pursuant to Article 131(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the
Registrar has prescribed a period within which the party
concerned is to produce a translation into the language of the
case, the accuracy of which it must certify, and the translation is
not produced within the prescribed period, the Registrar shall
arrange for the pleading or procedural document concerned to
be removed from the case-file.

3. The Registrar shall prescribe the periods within which
institutions which are parties to proceedings are to produce the
the Rules of
translations provided for by Article 43(2) of
Procedure.

Article 10

Service

Service shall be effected, in accordance with Article 100(1)
1.
of the Rules of Procedure, either by the dispatch by registered
post, with a form for acknowledgment of receipt, of a certified
copy of the original of the document to be served or by personal
delivery of such copy to the addressee against a receipt. If need
be, the certified copy shall be prepared by the Registrar.

The copy of the document shall be accompanied by a letter
specifying the case number, the register number and a brief
indication of the nature of the document. The signed original of
that letter shall be kept on the case-file.

If service of the application on the defendant is attempted
the Registrar shall prescribe a period within

2.
unsuccessfully,
which the applicant is to supply a new address for service.

3.
Provided that the addressee concerned has an address for
service in Luxembourg, documents shall be served on the person
authorised to accept service.

Where, contrary to Article 44(2) of the Rules of Procedure, a
party has omitted to state an address for service in Luxembourg
and has not agreed that service is to be effected on him by fax or
technical means of communication, service shall be
other
effected by the lodging at the post office in Luxembourg of a
registered letter addressed to the lawyer or agent of the party
concerned.

4. Where,
in accordance with the second subparagraph of
Article 44(2) of the Rules of Procedure, a party has agreed that
service is to be effected on him by fax or other technical means
of communication, service shall be effected, in accordance with
Article 100(2) of the Rules of Procedure, by the transmission by
such means of a copy of the document to be served.

However, judgments and orders of the Court of First Instance
and documents which, for technical reasons or on account of
their nature or length, cannot be transmitted by such means shall
be served in accordance with paragraph 1 above.

Where the addressee has not stated an address for service in
Luxembourg, he shall be informed of such service by the
transmission by fax or other technical means of communication
of a copy of the letter accompanying the document to be served
and drawing his attention to the provisions of
the second
subparagraph of Article 100(2) of the Rules of Procedure.

5. The form for acknowledgment of receipt, the receipt, the
proof of lodging of the registered letter at the post office in
Luxembourg or a document establishing the dispatch by fax or
other technical means of communication shall be kept on the
case-file together with a copy of the letter sent to the addressee
when service was effected.

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If, owing to the length of a document, only one copy is
6.
annexed to a procedural document lodged by a party or if, for
other reasons, copies of a document or an object lodged at the
Registry cannot be served on the parties, the Registrar shall
inform the parties accordingly and indicate to them that the
document or object in question is available to them at the
Registry for inspection.

Article 11

Setting and extension of time-limits

1. The Registrar shall prescribe the time-limits provided for in
in accordance with the authority
the Rules of Procedure,
accorded to him by the President.

examined, an indication of the evidence or documents produced
at the hearing and, in so far as is necessary, the statements made
at the hearing and the decisions pronounced at the hearing by
the Court or the President.

3. The Registrar shall arrange for minutes of the examination
of a witness which reproduce the witness’s evidence to be drawn
up in the language in which the witness gave his evidence.

Before signing the minutes and submitting them to the President
for his signature the Registrar shall forward the draft minutes to
the witness,
if necessary by registered post, and request the
witness to check them, make any observations which he may
wish to make upon them and sign them.

2. Documents
the period
prescribed for their lodgment has expired may be accepted only
with the authorisation of the President.

the Registry after

received at

3. The Registrar may extend the time-limits prescribed,
in
accordance with the authority accorded to him by the President.
When necessary, he shall submit to the President proposals for
the extension of time-limits.

Applications for extensions of time-limits must be duly reasoned
and be submitted in good time before the expiry of the period
prescribed. A time-limit may not be extended more than once
save for exceptional reasons.

Article 12

Procedures on applications for interim measures

In the procedures referred to in Articles 104 to 110 of the Rules
of Procedure, the Registrar may send procedural documents by
all appropriate means which urgency requires, and in particular
by means of fax transmission; in the event of such transmission,
the Registrar shall nevertheless ensure that it is followed by a
dispatch in the manner prescribed by Article 100 of the Rules of
Procedure.

Article 13

Hearings and minutes of hearings

1. Before every public hearing the Registrar shall draw up a
cause list in the language of the case. The cause list shall contain
the date, hour and place of the hearing, the competent formation
of the Court, an indication of the cases which will be called and
the names of the parties.

Article 14

Witnesses and experts

1. The Registrar shall take the measures necessary for giving
effect to orders requiring the taking of expert opinion or the
examination of witnesses.

2. The Registrar shall obtain from witnesses evidence of their
expenses and loss of earnings and from experts a fee note
accounting for their expenses and services.

3. The Registrar shall cause sums due to witnesses and experts
under the Rules of Procedure to be paid from the Court’s
treasury. In the event of a dispute concerning such sums, the
Registrar shall refer the matter to the President in order for a
decision to be taken.

4. The Registrar shall arrange for the costs of examining
experts or witnesses advanced by the Court in a case to be
demanded from the parties ordered to pay the costs. If necessary,
steps pursuant to Article 16(2) shall be taken.

Article 15

Originals of judgments and orders

1. Originals of judgments and orders of the Court shall be kept
in chronological order in the archives of the Registry. A certified
copy shall be placed on the case-file.

At the parties’ request, the Registrar shall supply them with a
certified copy of the original of a judgment or of an order.

The cause list shall be displayed at the entrance to the courtroom.

The Registrar may supply uncertified copies of judgments and
orders to third parties who so request.

2. The Registrar shall draw up in the respective language of
each case the minutes of every hearing. Those minutes shall
contain an indication of the case, the date, hour and place of the
hearing, an indication of whether the hearing was in public or in
camera, the names of the Judges, the Advocate-General and the
Registrar present, the names and capacities of the agents, lawyers
or advisers of the parties present, the surnames, forenames,
status and permanent addresses of the witnesses or experts

2.
Judgments or orders rectifying or interpreting a judgment or
an order, judgments given on applications to set aside judgments
by default, judgments and orders given in third-party proceed-
ings or on applications for revision and judgments or orders
given by the Court of Justice in appeals shall be mentioned in the
margin of the judgment or order concerned. The original or a
certified copy shall be appended to the original of the judgment
or order.

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Article 16

Recovery of sums

to in Article 1 of Council Regulation No 1 (2), as amended, and
in accordance with any arrangements adopted by the Court of
First Instance.

1. Where sums paid out by way of legal aid or sums advanced
to witnesses or experts are recoverable by the Court’s treasury,
the Registrar shall, by registered letter, demand payment of those
sums from the party which is to bear them in accordance with
the Rules of Procedure.

the names of parties or

4. Where a party so requests or the Court of its own motion so
third parties or other
decides,
information may be omitted from the publications relating to
a case if there is a legitimate interest in keeping the identity of a
person or other information confidential.

If

2.
the sums demanded are not paid within the period
prescribed by the Registrar, he may request the Court to make an
enforceable decision and, if necessary, require its enforcement.

Article 19

Advice for lawyers and agents

Article 17

Registry charges

1. Where a copy of a procedural document or an extract from
the case-file or from the register is supplied to a party on paper at
its request,
impose a Registry charge of
EUR 3,50 (1) per page for a certified copy and EUR 2,50 per page
for an uncertified copy.

the Registrar shall

2. Where the Registrar arranges for a procedural document or
an extract from the case-file to be translated at the request of a
party, a Registry charge of EUR 1,25 per line shall be imposed.

1. The Registrar shall make known to lawyers and agents the
Practice Directions to parties and these Instructions to the
Registrar.

2. When requested by lawyers or agents, the Registrar shall
provide them with information on the practice followed
pursuant to the Rules of Procedure, pursuant to the Practice
Directions to parties and pursuant to these Instructions to the
Registrar in order to ensure that proceedings are conducted
efficiently.

Article 20

Derogations from these Instructions

3. The charges referred to in this Article shall, as from
1 January 2007, be increased by 10 % each time the weighted
cost-of-living index published by the Government of the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg is increased by 10 %.

Where the special circumstances of a case and the proper
administration of justice require, the Court or the President may
derogate from any of these Instructions.

Article 18

Publications

1. The Registrar shall cause to be published in the Official
Journal of the European Union the composition of the Chambers
and the criteria applied in the allocation of cases to them, the
election of the President of the Court of First Instance and of the
Presidents of Chambers, the designation of the Judge replacing
the President of the Court of First Instance as the Judge hearing
applications for interim measures, and the appointment of the
Registrar and of any Deputy Registrar.

2. The Registrar shall cause to be published in the Official
Journal of the European Union notices of proceedings brought and
of decisions closing proceedings.

Article 21

Entry into force of these Instructions

1. The Instructions to the Registrar of 3 March 1994 (OJ L 78,
22.3.1994, p. 32), as amended on 29 March 2001 (OJ L 119,
27.4.2001, p. 2) and 5 June 2002 (OJ L 160, 18.6.2002 p. 1),
are hereby repealed and replaced by these Instructions to the
Registrar.

2. These Instructions to the Registrar, which are authentic in
the languages referred to in Article 36(2) of
the Rules of
Procedure, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European
Union. They shall enter into force on the day following their
publication.

3. The Registrar shall ensure that the case-law of the Court of
First Instance is made public and that the Reports of Cases before
the Court of First Instance are published in the languages referred

E. COULON

Registrar

B. VESTERDORF

President

Done at Luxembourg, 5 July 2007.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of 17 June 1997 on certain
provisions relating to the introduction of the euro (OJ L 162 of 19
June 1997, p. 1).

(2) Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 determining the languages to be
used by the European Economic Community and Regulation No 1 of
15 April 1958 determining the languages to be used by the
European Atomic Energy Community (OJ, English Special Edition
(1952-1978) (I), p. 59).