European Court of Justice

European Court of Justice
the principal court of the European Union, charged with ensuring that in the interpretation and application of the treaties the law is observed. It is a collegiate body and elects its own President. It is made up of independent members and can act only by judgment. The system of preliminary ruling allowed the court much more material with which to state the law.
It consists of 15 judges and nine Advocates General (Advocate General. It sits in six chambers of three or five judges, but when it hears a case brought by a member state or one of the other institutions, or when it has to give a preliminary ruling, it must sit in plenary session. It does not issue dissenting judgments. It has the following jurisdiction: to discover whether a member state has failed to fulfil an obligation under the treaty; to determine penalties in actions by natural or legal persons; to review the legality of the acts or failures to act by the Council and Commission at the request of a member state, to give preliminary rulings; to grant damages to persons complaining of damage caused by the institutions; to resolve disputes between the Communities and their employees; to act as court of appeal for the relatively new Court of First Instance. It has had a pivotal effect in European Community law.

Collins dictionary of law. . 2001.


European Court of Justice
(ECJ)
The judicial body of the European Union (EU). The ECJ consists of judges from each member state. It makes decisions on issues of EC law. The judges are not representatives of their member states. The ECJ enforces European decisions either in respect of actions taken by the European Commission against a member state or action taken by an individual to enforce his rights under EC law. The ECJ is frequently confused with the European Court of Human Rights, which is not linked to the EU institutions, and which oversees human rights laws across Europe, including in many non-EU countries.
For further information, see the Europa website: .
Related links

Practical Law Dictionary. Glossary of UK, US and international legal terms. . 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • European Court of Justice — ˌEuropean ˌCourt of ˈJustice noun LAW one of the institutions of the European Union, that explains and decides the meaning of European law, decides if member states have broken the law, and deals with complaints from people and organizations that …   Financial and business terms

  • European Court of Justice — noun The court of the European Union whose jurisdiction covers the hearing of disputes on issues of European Union law • • • Main Entry: ↑European European Court of Justice An EU institution whose function is to ensure that the laws embodied in… …   Useful english dictionary

  • European Court of Justice — Not to be confused with the European Court of Human Rights, the court of the Council of Europe. ECJ redirects here. For the collective judicial institutions of the European Union, see Court of Justice of the European Union. For other uses, see… …   Wikipedia

  • European Court of Justice — European Court of Jus|tice, the the court of law for the ↑EU (=the European Union) , based in Luxembourg …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • European Court of Justice — (also the Court of Justice of the European Communities) the court of law of the European Union since 1958. Its base is in Luxembourg, with judges from each of the member countries. It interprets EU law and decides when individual member countries …   Universalium

  • European Court of Justice — (ECJ)    The Court is based in Luxembourg and is not to be confused with the European Court (the body which has responsibility for enforcing the European Convention on Human Rights), which is located in Strasbourg. It rules on matters of European …   Glossary of UK Government and Politics

  • European Court of Justice —  in Luxembourg, is a European Union institution dealing exclusively with disputes involving member states. European Organization for Nuclear Research is more commonly called CERN (from Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • (the) European Court of Justice — the European Court of Justice [the European Court of Justice] (also the Court of Justice of the European Communities) the court of law of the ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • List of European Court of Justice rulings — The following is a list of notable judgments of the European Court of Justice. Principles of Community Law Primacy * Costa v ENEL 6/64 [1964] ECR 585Community law takes precedence over the Member States own domestic law.*Simmenthal II 106/77… …   Wikipedia

  • the European Court of Justice — UK US noun LAW, POLITICS ► an organization of the European Union, formed of one judge from each member country, that decides on the laws that all its members should follow. It has the power to change decisions made by a national courts …   Financial and business terms

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”