Brussels, 25/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - During 2008, the Court of Justice of the European Communities had the record number of 592 new cases referred to it. Although it managed to considerably reduce the average duration of proceedings, the number of cases resolved nonetheless remains slightly below the number of cases opened during the same period.
According to statistics published by the Court of Justice last week, results are improving year on year. In 2008, 567 cases were resolved, compared to 592 referrals. The number of cases still pending on 31 December 2008 was slightly up compared to the previous year (see EUROPE 9620), at 766. Since 2001, however, numbers have been falling (974 cases still pending in 2001). The average duration of proceedings can be broken down as follows: 16.8 months for preliminary rulings (compared to 19.3 in 2007); 16.9 months for direct appeals (compared to 18.2); and 17.7 months for appeals (17.8).
The Court puts this improvement down to the speed with which party cases are dealt with using several new procedures, namely: urgent preliminary ruling procedure; expedited procedure; simplified procedure; and the possibility to rule without the conclusions of the advocate general. Urgent preliminary ruling procedure, introduced in 2008, has been requested six times and granted in three, notably for the judgement given on 5 December in favour of the People's Mujahadin Organisation of Iran (EUROPE 9798, Case T-284/08).
The Court of First Instance, on the other hand, settled 605 cases during 2008, which represents a 52% rise compared to the previous year, whereas the number of hearings in 2008 doubled: 341 compared to 172 in 2007. The average duration of appeal proceedings was down to 24.5 months in 2008 compared to 27.7 months in 2007. Aware of the growing number of litigation cases, the Court of First Instance has made several changes to its administrative procedures in order to improve efficiency. These include the possibility of ruling on intellectual property appeals, without the phase of oral proceedings. This development, however, was only useful in containing the rise in cases pending at 1,178 at the end of December 2008 compared to 1,154 in 2007. In a communication to the press, the Court states that, in 2009, it will be seeking to deepen reflection on the ways and means used by the Court of First Instance to improve its efficiency without this being detrimental to the quality of work being done on cases.
The Civil Service Tribunal has managed to reduce the number of cases pending for the first time since it was established in 2006: 129 cases resolved and 111 new cases brought before the Court. The average duration of proceedings was 7 months in 2008, a slight rise compared to the previous year. (C.D./transl.jl)