References for a preliminary ruling

References for a preliminary ruling are specific to Community law. Whilst the Court of Justice is, by its very nature, the supreme guardian of Community legality, it is not the only judicial body empowered to apply Community law.

That task also falls to national courts, in as much as they retain jurisdiction to review the administrative implementation of Community law, for which the authorities of the Member States are essentially responsible; many provisions of the Treaties and of secondary legislation - regulations, directives and decisions - directly confer individual rights on nationals of Member States, which national courts must uphold. National courts are thus by their nature the first guarantors of Community law. To ensure the effective and uniform application of Community legislation and to prevent divergent interpretations, national courts may, and sometimes must, turn to the Court of Justice and ask that it clarify a point concerning the interpretation of Community law, in order, for example, to ascertain whether their national legislation complies with that law.

A reference for a preliminary ruling may also seek review of the legality of an act of Community law. The Court of Justice’s reply is not merely an opinion, but takes the form of a judgment or a reasoned order. The national court to which that is addressed is bound by the interpretation given. The Court’s judgment also binds other national courts before which a problem of the same nature is raised. References for a preliminary ruling also serve to enable any European citizen to seek clarification of the Community rules which concern him. Although such a reference may be made only by a national court, which alone has the power to decide that it is appropriate do so, all the parties involved – that is to say, the Member States, the parties in the proceedings before national courts and, in particular, the Commission – may take part in proceedings before the Court of Justice. In this way, a number of important principles of Community law have been laid down in preliminary rulings, sometimes in answer to questions referred by national courts of first instance.

Both the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance have their seats in Luxembourg.

At the conference of July 23, 1952 involving the founder Members of the European Coal and Steel Community, Luxembourg was chosen as the provisional seat for the Court of Justice. Its first hearing was held on October 28, 1954.

The Decision taken by the representatives of the governments of the Member States on April 8, 1965 (relating to the provisional location of certain Community institutions and services) provided for the Court to remain in Luxembourg. That Treaty was confirmed by the Decision by common accord of the representatives of governments of the Member States at the Edinburgh European Council on 12 December 1992 (relating to the seats of the institutions and certain bodies and departments of the European Communities). Pursuant to Article 1, the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance have their seats in Luxembourg.

The 1965 Decision stated that future jurisdictional and quasi-jurisdictional bodies would be located in Luxembourg, although that paragraph was not included in the 1992 Decision. Accordingly, in a unilateral declaration, Luxembourg did not renounce the provisions and potentialities of the Decision of 1965. A Protocol on the seats of the institutions was annexed to the treaties by the Treaty of Amsterdam of 2 October 1997. It confirmed the Edinburgh Decision. In a Luxembourg Government Declaration appended to the Treaty of Nice of February 26, 2001, the Grand Duchy undertook not to claim the Seat of the Boards of Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market, even if such boards were to become judicial panels.

Legacy

The ECJ is feared by some Eurosceptics, due to its ruling in 2001 that parts of the German Constitution were illegal as being incompatible with the EU treaties. The ECJ has ruled, several times, that the law of the European Communities (consisting of regulations, directives, treaties) is supreme to any member state laws.

Within the procedure for infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission, the ECJ has the power to declare any national law or rule as inconsistent with a law of the European Community, or the Treaty itself, which as a consequence means that the national rule is inapplicable. This practice remained relatively unnoticed since the inception of the European Communities, and has only in recent years attracted scrutiny.

The Lisbon Treaty makes the Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding. Therefore the EU Court has the potential of becoming a rival to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg - both being courts which will be dealing with human rights issues. It also provides for the EU Court to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is currently interpreted by the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The Lisbon Treaty increases the competences of the EU Court and make it possible to establish new specialised courts with qualified majority.