Court of Justice of the European Union

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Its basic mission is to ensure the observance and uniform application and interpretation of EU law within EU member states and institutions. Its headquarters are in Luxembourg.

The CJEU originated in the individual courts of justice established in the 1950s for the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC). The function of the courts was to ensure that those organizations observed the law in their interpretation and application of the treaties by which they were founded. In 1957, by the Treaty of Rome, a single unified CJEU was created to serve all three of the European Communities, later called the European Community (EC). The EU subsumed the EC in 1993 and legally replaced it in 2009. In 1988 the Court of First Instance was established to reduce the existing court’s workload; it was renamed the General Court in 2009. The General Court is now one of two courts comprised by the CJEU, the other being the Court of Justice.

The Court of Justice issues rulings on the interpretation of EU law for national courts of EU member states and hears various actions involving member states and institutions, including actions brought by the European Commission or by a member state for failure of a member state to fulfill its obligations under EU law; actions brought by a member state against the European Parliament or the European Commission, or by one EU institution against another, seeking annulment of a regulation, directive, or decision; and appeals on points of law of judgments of the General Court. The General Court hears actions involving member states, institutions, and natural or legal persons, including actions brought by natural or legal persons against EU institutions for failure to act in accordance with EU law or brought by them to seek annulment of a regulation, directive, or decision; actions brought by a member state against the European Commission; and various actions against EU institutions concerning specific issues, such as state aid, trade, intellectual property, or employment relations.

The Court of Justice is made up of 27 judges, 1 from each member state, and 11 advocates general, all of whom are appointed to renewable six-year terms by consensus of the states. The court may sit as a full chamber, as a Grand Chamber of 15 judges, or as a smaller chamber of 3 or 5 judges. The General Court is made up of 2 judges from each member state, also appointed by consensus of the states. The court sits in chambers usually consisting of 3 or 5 judges and occasionally of 1 judge. It may also sit as a Grand Chamber of 15 judges for especially complex or important cases.