(AGENPARL) – ven 30 agosto 2024 PRESS RELEASE No 126/24
Luxembourg, 30 August 2024
Important amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice
and of the General Court enter into force on 1 September
The new rules implement the amendments to the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union and
modernise the procedures before the two courts
The Court of Justice and the General Court amended their respective Rules of Procedure in order to implement the
amendments to the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union decided by the European Parliament and
the Council of the European Union 1. At the same time, the new rules modernise and simplify the procedures before
the two courts. The draft amendments, presented by the Court of Justice and by the General Court respectively,
were approved by the Council of the European Union in June, before being formally adopted by each court in July 2.
In addition, the Court of Justice adopted a new version of the Practice Directions to Parties concerning cases
brought before it 3 and the General Court adopted a new version of its Practice Rules for the implementation of
its Rules of Procedure 4.
Implementation of the amendments to the Statute
Part of the new rules seeks to implement the amendments to the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European
Union. These include, in particular, the provisions that are necessary to enable the transfer from the Court of Justice
to the General Court of part of the jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings, applicable from 1 October 2024 5.
The amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice lay down, first of all, the detailed rules for
the initial processing of requests for a preliminary ruling submitted to the Court of Justice in order to
determine which court has jurisdiction to deal with them. Next, they introduce provisions that are necessary to
ensure that requests for a preliminary ruling that the General Court refers to the Court of Justice on the
ground that they require a decision of principle likely to affect the unity or consistency of Union law are dealt with
swiftly. Last, they lay down detailed rules for the online publication, within a reasonable time after the closing of
the case, of the written observations submitted by interested persons in preliminary ruling cases that will be
the subject of a decision from 1 September 2024, unless such person objects. The new Practice Directions to
Parties provide details on how to raise such objections.
The amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the General Court concern, in the first place, certain aspects
concerning the structure and organisation of the General Court. In particular, they provide for the creation of an
Intermediate Chamber between Chambers of five Judges and the Grand Chamber sitting with fifteen Judges, which
will be composed of nine Judges and will be presided over by the Vice-President of the General Court. Requests
for a preliminary ruling will be assigned to Chambers with particular responsibility for hearing and
determining those cases, sitting with five Judges, without prejudice to the possibility of referring them to another
court formation, depending on the difficulty and importance of the case. The Judges called upon to perform the
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duties of an Advocate General in preliminary ruling cases and those called upon to replace them if they are
prevented from acting are to be elected by the General Court and assist the competent court formation in all
preliminary ruling cases, mirroring the participation of Advocates General in proceedings before the Court of Justice.
In the second place, the new rules lay down the procedures under which requests for a preliminary ruling
transmitted by the Court of Justice will be dealt with by the General Court. In order to provide national courts and
tribunals, as well as interested persons, the same safeguards as are applied by the Court of Justice, the General
Court has reproduced the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice that are applicable to
requests for a preliminary ruling, subject to any adjustments necessary to maintain the overall consistency of the
procedural provisions applicable to the General Court. Similarly, as concerns the handling of requests for a
preliminary ruling, the new Practice Rules are largely based on the practice of the Court of Justice.
Other amendments to the Rules of Procedure
Other rules are not linked to the amendments to the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union and aim
to improve, simplify and modernise the way in which the Court of Justice and the General Court deal with cases
brought before them.
As regards the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, new provisions which aim to take account of the
experience gained during the health crisis expressly provide for the possibility, for the parties or their
representatives, of making oral submissions by videoconference, in compliance with the legal and technical
requirements laid down in the Practice Directions to Parties. In addition, rules on the protection of personal data,
and on the methods of lodging and service of procedural documents have been clarified. As regards, lastly, the
broadcasting of hearings before the Court of Justice, which contributes to the transparency and accessibility of
justice, the arrangements already put in place for hearings before the Grand Chamber and for the delivery of
judgments and opinions, are now set out in a new provision.
The new Practice Directions to Parties adopted by the Court of Justice take account of the amendments to the
Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and provide further clarification on several practical issues relating to the
written or oral part of the procedure.
Other amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the General Court include the following:
Removal of Registry charges for extracts from the register of the Registry, copies of procedural documents,
and authenticated copies of orders and judgments;
Modernisation of the rules concerning the methods of lodging and service of procedural documents;
Possibility of proceeding by way of simple decision in order to take procedural measures which so far
required the adoption of an order (reopening of the oral part and joinder of cases in the absence of a
request for confidential treatment);
Limitation of the period for the lodging of a modification of the application where a measure the
annulment of which is sought is replaced or amended by another measure with the same subject matter;
Possibility of adopting directly a measure of inquiry requesting information or the production of
material without prior adoption of a measure of organisation of procedure;
Clarification and streamlining of the rules concerning the assignment to a court formation of ancillary
claims (rectification, failure to adjudicate, setting aside judgments by default, third-party proceedings,
interpretation, revision, dispute on costs);
Broadcasting of hearings before the General Court, which will be possible only after the entry into force
of an implementing decision.
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The new Practice Rules adopted by the General Court explain and detail the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of
the General Court as regards, inter alia, the protection of personal data, the confidential treatment of certain
data in direct actions, the submission of procedural documents and their annexes, and participation in
hearings, including per videoconference.
The new Rules of Procedure, which enter into force on 1 September 2024, and the consolidated versions of the
Statute and of the Rules of Procedure of both courts, are available on the Curia website under Court of
Justice/Procedure and General Court/Procedure.
Unofficial document for media use, not binding on the Court of Justice.
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Those amendments were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 August 2024: Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2019 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 amending Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union; see
also Press Release No 125/24.
The amendments in question were also published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 12 August 2024: Amendments to the Rules of
Procedure of the Court of Justice [2024/2094] and Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the General Court [2024/2095].
The Practice Directions to Parties concerning cases brought before the Court were published today in the Official Journal of the European Union:
[2024/2173].
Practice Rules for the implementation of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court [2024/2097].
See Press Release No 125/24.
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