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    Home»EU Law

    The European Civil Service Tribunal – background guide

    Ina DimirevaBy Ina Dimireva26 November 2009 EU Law No Comments6 Mins Read
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    — last modified 26 November 2009

    An overview of the composition, jurisdiction and procedure of the Civil Service Tribunal.


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    Composition

    The Civil Service Tribunal is composed of seven Judges appointed by the Council for a period of six years which may be renewed, following a call for applications and after taking the opinion of a committee of seven persons chosen from among former members of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance and lawyers of recognised competence.

    When appointing the Judges, the Council ensures a balanced composition of the Tribunal on as broad a geographical basis as possible from among nationals of the Member States and with respect to the national legal systems represented.

    The Judges of the Tribunal elect their President from among their number for a term of three years which may be renewed.

    The Tribunal sits in Chambers of three Judges. However, whenever the difficulty or importance of the questions of law raised justifies it, a case may be referred to the full court. Furthermore, in certain cases to be determined by its Rules of Procedure, the Tribunal may sit in a Chamber of five Judges or as a single Judge.

    The Judges appoint a Registrar for a term of six years.
    The Tribunal has its own Registry, but makes use of the services of the Court of Justice for its other administrative and linguistic needs.

    Jurisdiction

    Within the Community judicial institution, it is the Tribunal whose special field is the sphere of disputes involving the European Union civil service, this jurisdiction having previously been exercised by the Court of Justice and then, following its creation in 1989, by the Court of First Instance.

    It has jurisdiction to hear and determine at first instance disputes between the Communities and their servants pursuant to Article 236 EC, which as a result represents some 150 cases a year for approximately 35 000 members of the Community institutions’ staff. These disputes concern not only questions to do with working relations in the strict sense (pay, career progress, recruitment, disciplinary measures etc.), but also the social security system (sickness, old age, invalidity, accidents at work, family allowances etc.).

    It also has jurisdiction in cases concerning certain specific employees, in particular, those of Eurojust, Europol, the European Central Bank and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM).

    On the other hand, it may not hear and determine cases between national administrations and their employees.

    The decisions given by the Tribunal may, within two months, be subject to an appeal, limited to questions of law, to the Court of First Instance.

    Procedure

    The procedure before the Tribunal is governed by the provisions of the Statute of the Court of Justice, in particular those contained in Annex I theretoand by the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure, which entered into force on 1 November 2007.

    As a rule, the proceedings include a written phase and an oral phase.

    The written phase

    An application, drawn up by a lawyer and sent to the Registry, opens the proceedings. The Registrar sends the application to the opposing party. The latter has a period of two months to file a defence. The Tribunal may decide that a second exchange of pleadings is necessary.

    Any person who can prove an interest in the outcome of a case before the Tribunal, as well as the Member States and the Community institutions, may intervene in the proceedings. The intervener files a statement in intervention, supporting or opposing the claims of one of the parties, to which the latter may then respond. The intervener may also submit his observations at the oral phase.

    The oral phase

    During the oral phase a public hearing is usually held. During the hearing, the Judges can put questions to the parties’ representatives and, where appropriate, to the parties themselves. The Judge-Rapporteur draws up a preliminary report for the hearing, containing the essential points in the case and indicating the points on which the parties are to focus their arguments. This document is available to the public in the language of the case.

    The Judges deliberate on the basis of draft grounds prepared by the Judge-Rapporteur. The judgment is delivered at a public hearing.

    Costs

    The procedure before the Tribunal is free of court fees. On the other hand, the costs of the lawyer entitled to appear before a court in a Member State, by whom the parties must be represented, are not paid by the Tribunal. A party who is not able to meet the costs of the case may, however, apply for legal aid.

    Amicable settlement of disputes

    At all stages of the procedure, including the time when the application is filed, the Tribunal may try to facilitate an amicable settlement of the dispute.

    Proceedings for interim measures

    Bringing an action before the Tribunal does not cause the operation of the contested act to be suspended. The Tribunal may, however, order suspension of the act or other interim measures.
    The President of the Tribunal or, in some circumstances, another Judge rules on the application for interim measures by way of reasoned order.

    Interim measures are granted only if three conditions are met:

    1. the substance of the main proceedings must appear, at first sight, to be well founded;
    2. the applicant must establish the urgency of the measures in the absence of which he would suffer serious and irreparable harm;
    3. the interim measures must take account of the weighing up of the parties’ interests and the public interest.

    The order is provisional in nature and in no way prejudges the decision of the Tribunal in the main proceedings. In addition, an appeal against it may be brought before the President of the Court of First Instance.

    Language arrangements

    The language used for the application, which may be one of the 23 official languages of the European Union, will be the language of the case.

    The proceedings in the oral phase of the procedure are simultaneously interpreted, as necessary, into various official languages of the European Union. The judges deliberate without interpreters in a common language, French.

    Flowchart of procedure

    Procedure before the Civil Service Tribunal

    Written phase

    At all stages of the procedure the Tribunal may try to reach an amicable settlement of the dispute between the parties.

    Application

    Service of the application on the defendant by the Registry

    Notice of the action in the Official Journal of the European Union (Series C)
    (Official publication of the subject-matter of the application and the forms of order sought, available approximately six weeks from the day on which the action is brought before the Tribunal)*

    [Intervention]

    Defence
    [objection of inadmissibility]

    [Reply and rejoinder]

    The Judge-Rapporteur prepares the preliminary report

    Chamber conference

    [Measures of inquiry]

    [Application for legal aid]

    [Interim measures]

    Allocation of the case to a Chamber and designation of the Judge-Rapporteur

    Oral phase

    Hearing

    Preparatory report for the hearing

    (Document drawn up by the Judge-Rapporteur containing the essential elements of the case and indicating, where appropriate, the points on which the parties are to focus their arguments)

    Judges’ deliberations

    Judgment or order (in the case of an order, there is never an oral phase)

    Source: CURIA: The Court of Justice of the European Communities

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    Ina Dimireva

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