Court of Justice

The Court of Justice, together with the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal, forms the Court of Justice of the European Union whose aim is to ensure the uniform interpretation of EU law and that EU countries and Institutions respect the law.

The Court is responsible for dealing with:

• references for preliminary rulings from national courts on interpretation of EU law;
• actions brought by an EU country or the Commission against an EU country for infringing EU law;
• some actions brought by an EU country for annulment of a measure adopted by an EU institution;
• actions against an EU institution for failure to act;
• appeals on points of law against judgments of the General Court.

The Court may, in exceptional circumstances, also review decisions of the General Court on appeals against decisions of the Civil Service Tribunal.

The Court is composed of 28 Judges (1 from each EU country) and 9 Advocates-General, who present opinions on cases brought before the Court. They are appointed by common accord of EU countries for 6 years.

Source:  EUR Lex Glossary