Written by Ine Lejeune, 20 August 2024, [email protected], Attorney, Dispute resolution and Litigation, PhD Candidate University of Amsterdam (UvA), researcher and author.
Transfer of Preliminary Ruling Jurisdiction to the General Court
As of October 1, 2024, jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings will be partially transferred from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to the General Court in specific areas. This reform amends Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice, published in the Official Journal of the European Union (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L_202402019 on August 12, 2024, entering into force on 1 September 2024.
Areas of Transferred Jurisdiction
The General Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine requests for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU that come exclusively within one or several of the following specific areas:
- a) The common system of value added tax (VAT)
- b) Excise duties
- c) The Customs Code
- d) The tariff classification of goods under the Combined Nomenclature
- e) Compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding or of delay or cancellation of transport services
- f) The system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading
Retained Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice
Notwithstanding the above, the Court of Justice shall retain jurisdiction to hear and determine requests for a preliminary ruling that raise independent questions relating to the interpretation of:
- Primary EU law
- Public international law
- General principles of EU law
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Procedure for the Transfer to the General Court
- All requests for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU shall be submitted to the Court of Justice.
- The President of the Court shall designate a Judge-Rapporteur to examine as quickly as possible whether the request falls exclusively within one or more areas transferred to the General Court.
- If so, the Court of Justice shall transfer that request to the General Court. If not, the Court of Justice shall retain the case.
- The competent court (CJEU or General Court) will provide brief reasons in its ruling explaining why it has jurisdiction.
- The General Court may still refer a case allocated to it back to the CJEU if it requires a decision of principle likely to affect the unity or consistency of EU law.
- The requests for a preliminary ruling that the General Court hears and determines shall be assigned to designated chambers per its Rules of Procedure.
Composition of the General Court and Rules of Procedure
The General Court is composed of two judges per Member State. It sits in chambers of three or five judges, in a Grand Chamber of 15 judges or, in some cases, as a full court. Advocates General will assist the General Court.
The Rules of Procedure of the General Court have been modified to align with the amended Statute, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ%3AL_202402097.
Review Procedure by the CJEU
A judgment of the General Court on a preliminary ruling is subject to review by the CJEU if there is a risk to the unity or consistency of EU law:
- The review is not on demand of the parties
- The First Advocate General of the CJEU proposes this within one month of the General Court’s judgment
- The CJEU decides on the proposal within one month (maximum two months after the judgment. If accepted, the CJEU will deliver a new judgment on the case.
Pending Cases and Changes to Rules of Procedure
Cases already pending before the CJEU on October 1, 2024, will still be ruled upon by the CJEU and will not be transferred to the General Court.
For more information, see the CJEU Press Release No 125/24,
https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-08/cp240125en.pdf
It is crucial to monitor the impact of the recent transfer of jurisdiction to the General Court on the quality of jurisprudence in the affected areas. This entails observing the frequency of review procedures being invoked, instances where preliminary questions remain untransferred, and the potential influence of these changes on the parties’ and judges’ confidence in seeking preliminary rulings from the CJEU. Such scrutiny will provide valuable insights into the implications of this shift.
Changes Applicable to All Preliminary Ruling Cases
– Notification to the Member States (like today) but also to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Central Bank of all requests for a preliminary ruling. They can then assess whether they have a particular interest in the issues raised and decide whether they, therefore, wish to exercise their right to submit statements of case or written observations.
– Transparency: Publication of Written Submissions on the website of the Court of Justice
In all preliminary ruling cases, the statements of case or written observations submitted by an interested person referred to in Article 23 of the Statute will be published on the website of the Court of Justice within a reasonable time after the closing of the case, unless that person raises objections to the publication of that person’s own written submissions (amended Article 23b of the Statute).
This new transparency measure applies to preliminary ruling proceedings before both the Court of Justice and the General Court.
Written by Ine Lejeune, 20 August 2024, [email protected], Attorney, Dispute resolution and Litigation, PhD Candidate University of Amsterdam (UvA), researcher and author.
