The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''";

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

: Curia) is the

judicial branch The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

(EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

, this EU institution consists of two separate courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court. From 2005 to 2016 it also contained the

Civil Service Tribunal The European Union Civil Service Tribunal was a specialised court within the Court of Justice of the European Union. It was established on 2 December 2005. It ceased to exist on 1 September 2016. Legal basis The Treaty of Nice provides for the cr ...

. It has a ''

sui generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...

'' court system, meaning ’of its own kind’, and is a supranational institution. The CJEU is the chief judicial authority of the

and oversees the uniform application and interpretation of European Union law, in co-operation with the national judiciary of the member states. The CJEU also resolves legal disputes between national governments and EU institutions, and may take action against EU institutions on behalf of individuals, companies or organisations whose rights have been infringed.

Composition

The CJEU consists of two major courts: # the Court of Justice, informally known as

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European U ...

(ECJ), which hears applications from national courts for preliminary rulings, annulment and appeals. It consists of one judge from each EU member country, as well as 11 advocates general. # the General Court, which hears applications for annulment from individuals, companies and, less commonly, national governments (focusing on

competition law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

state aid State aid in the European Union is the name given to a subsidy or any other aid provided by a government that distorts competitions. Under European Union competition law the term has a legal meaning, being any measure that demonstrates any of t ...

, trade, agriculture and

trade marks A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others. ...

). Since 2020 the court is composed of 54 judges, though only 49 seats are currently filled.

Functions

The CJEU's specific mission is to ensure that "the law is observed" "in the interpretation and application" of the

Treaties of the European Union The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures ...

. To achieve this, it: * reviews the legality of actions taken by the EU's institutions; * enforces compliance by member states with their obligations under the Treaties, and * interprets

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

History

The CJEU was originally established in 1952 as a single court called the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Communities (as of 1958 the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC)). The General Court was created in 1988 (known as the ''Court of First Instance'') and the Civil Service Tribunal was created in 2004. With the entry into force of the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

in 2009, the court system obtained its current name (Court of Justice of the European Union), while the original court itself (the former CJEC) was renamed "Court of Justice". The working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union is

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Notes

References

External links

Official website

on

EUR-Lex Eur-Lex (stylized EUR-Lex) is an official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union (EU), published in 24 official languages of the EU. The Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union is also published on EU ...

* The archival fonds of the Court of Justice of the European Union is consultable at th
Historical Archives of the European Union
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