Brussels, 15/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 1 November of this year, the rules of procedure of the Court of Justice of the EU, reviewed on 25 September to adapt the rules of procedure of the Court to the increasing numbers of increasingly complex disputes, which differ from the past, and to promote a faster and more effective handling of cases.
Despite successive changes since it was initially adopted in 1953, the regulation in force still reflects the preponderance of direct cases between natural or moral persons or member states and an institution of the EU, whereas in fact, with the exception of actions for failure or certain categories of actions for cancellation, preliminary rulings now represent some 60% of disputes. By giving a specific title to these cases and by making the rules more complete and explicit, the new regulation aims to take this new reality into account.
In addition, given an increasing number of cases, the Court has had to speed up its processing of cases to resolve them within a reasonable period, even though this time has already been shortened. Among the measures to this end, the new rules of procedure will allow, amongst other things, to limit the length of written submissions or observations and relax the conditions for it to adopt reasoned orders, particularly if the preliminary issue brought forward leaves no room for reasonable doubt. During the oral phase of proceedings, once it feels that it has sufficient information, the Court is no longer obliged to hold hearings of pleadings, or may ask these to focus on one or more points. It may also hold audiences common to a number of cases of the same kind on the same issue. The hearing report requirement has also been abandoned.
A further aim of the new rules is to clarify existing rules and practices. In this way, it draws a clear distinction between the rules applicable to all types of cases and those specific to each of them (preliminary rulings, direct actions and appeals), whilst all the articles of the new rules of procedure will be given a specific number and title to make it easier to reference them. As regards preliminary issues, there will be a provision listing the minimum content needed for any application and a provision on anonymity, in order to ensure greater precision of the formulation and respect for the privacy of the parties to the main proceedings. As regards appeals, incident appeals will always have to be made in a separate document, which will make it easier for them to be dealt with by the jurisdiction at a later date.
Lastly, the rules of procedure streamline the existing rules, by repealing certain obsolete rules or those which are not applied, or by reviewing the conditions for the procedural handling of certain cases. By way of example, there is the simplification of the rules on the intervention of the member states and institutions of the Union, the appointment, for one year, of a Chamber responsible for cases being re-examined, or a relaxation of the conditions for handling requests for opinions, with the involvement of just one advocate general from now on (rather than all of the advocates general of the Court).
In combination, these measures will meet these challenges, the Court believes. (FG/transl.fl)