Brussels, 5/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - By a huge majority (584 to 26 with 7 abstentions and 591 to 26 with 7 abstentions) the European Parliament plenary decided in July to adopt two reports by Alexandra Thein (ALDE, Germany) on two draft regulations - the first changing the terms and conditions of the European Court of Justice, and the second giving the option of appointing temporary judges to the European Civil Service Tribunal.
During the debate ahead of the vote, MEPs welcomed the two important regulations introducing new rules for after the summer break (which some describe as the first step towards an overhaul of the European legal system) but regretted that a compromise had not been possible with the Council of Ministers about the idea of increasing the number of judges at the EU General Court (included in the first draft regulation) because of disagreements among member states about how judges should be appointed and the rotation criteria for the extra judges. Talks will continue on this matter between the EP and the Council of Ministers because the draft regulation is to be adopted in co-decision.
The two draft regulations were drawn up based on suggestions from the Court of Justice itself to deal with the increasing workload and delays at the three courts (the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal) due to the additional member states and the Lisbon Treaty's granting of extra powers to the Court of Justice. The first draft regulation suggests for the Court of Justice: - increasing the Grand Chamber judges to 15; - scrapping the rule whereby all the presidents of the five-judge chambers must participate in the cases sent to the Grand Chamber; - changing the quorum rules for the Grand Chamber and the plenary sitting; - and establishing a vice-president to sit alongside the president and assist in all cases sent to the Grand Chamber.
For the General Court (where the number of pending cases is constantly on the increase) the first draft regulation suggests: - raising the number of judges by at least 12 to bring it to 39 judges from the current 27. The second draft regulation concerning the Civil Service Tribunal provides for the possibility of designating temporary judges, alongside the 7 currently incumbents. The temporary judges would be former judges from the Court, who could replace the incumbents in case of illness. The Council would be given the task of establishing the list of people who would be called on by the court in case of need.
At the end of the debate before the vote, Thein said there had been agreement on increasing the number of judges. She observed, however, that further discussions will be needed on the precise number, as well as on a series of other points like the possibility for judges to express a minor opinion in the Court (the Court has so far not wanted this), and the creation of specialised chambers in the General Court to examine appeals in specific areas (e.g. intellectual property). She hopes that the process can be brought to a successful conclusion by September 2013. (FG/transl.fl)