Brussels, 17/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - The 2009 statistics on the Court of Justice show, overall, increased productivity and the maintenance of a satisfactory level of efficiency with regard to the duration of proceedings. The constant upward trend in the number of references for a preliminary ruling submitted to the Court is also noted.
In 2009, the Court completed 543 cases, compared with 495 in 2008. Of those, 377 were dealt with by judgments and 165 gave rise to orders. The number of judgments delivered in 2009 is among the highest in the Court's history. The Court had 561 new cases brought before it, slightly down on 2008 when there were 592 new cases. It should be pointed out, however, that the number of references for a preliminary ruling submitted in 2009 is the highest ever, 302 cases. The statistics on duration of proceedings are very positive: for references for a preliminary ruling, the average duration was to 17.1 months, practically identical to the 2008 average of 16.8 months, and the average time taken to deal with direct actions and appeals was 17.1 months and 15.4 months respectively, compared with 16.9 months and 18.4 months in 2008.
The urgent preliminary ruling procedure was requested in three cases and the designated chamber considered that the necessary conditions were met in two of them. These cases were completed in an average period of 2.5 months. The Court made more frequent use of the possibility of determining cases without an Advocate General opinion. About 52% of the judgments delivered in 2009 were delivered without an opinion, compared with 41% in 2008.
The General Court: 568 new cases were brought, a slight drop since 2008, when there were 629. The number of cases pending (1,191) could not, however, be reduced despite the sustained efforts made.
The Civil Service Tribunal: the number of pending cases, which was 217 at the end of 2008, is now only 175. The average duration of proceedings was 15.1 months, a clear reduction in the average duration of proceedings compared with the previous year, when it was 17 months. (L.C./transl.rt)