A case must be brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union by a written application addressed to the Registrar.
You should keep in mind that you must be represented to lodge an application to the Court. Furthermore, individuals who wish to complain must apply to the General Court for most procedures, and not to the Court of Justice. For such proceedings, the General Court is the court of first instance, and you may appeal its decisions in the Court of Justice.
Form
The Court has created a model summary of the pleas in law and main arguments.
Language
The language of the case will be in one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. You may choose the language that suits you most. The only exception is where the defendant is a Member State: in such a case, the language of the case will be one of the official languages of that Member State.
You must keep in mind that once the language of the case is selected, it will have to be used for both the written and oral procedure.
Content
According to the rules of procedure of the General Court, your application must contain:
- your name and address
- the particulars of the status and address of your representative
- the name of the main party against whom the action is brought
- the subject matter of the proceedings, the pleas in law and arguments relied on and a summary of those pleas in law
- the form of order you seek
- any evidence that you deem appropriate
Keep the text simple and focused to help the Court to better understand what has happened, and avoid emotional or derogatory language.
Anonymity
You may apply for anonymity in the proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union. You must request it in a separate document, explaining the legitimate reasons why you wish to keep your identity confidential.
Documents
You need to add all the documents related to the situation about which you are complaining (such as complaints you have made and the responses received, and court judgements or other decisions etc.) to your application. The Court will only accept an application which is complete and has all the necessary documents added to it.
Time limits
To complain about a violation of your rights, you are not obligated to try to solve it first before the national state institutions. A complete application must be sent to the Registrar of the CJEU no later than 2 months after the publication or notification of the act you wish to challenge. If the act was neither published nor notified, the deadline runs from the moment you gained knowledge about it.
important You must send your application as soon as possible, as the Court may ask you for additional documents which you may not have included with your initial application. You will be granted additional time to send these documents to the Court. Procedural documents lodged after the time limit may in exceptional cases be accepted, if the President decides to that effect.
Address
important It would be useful to save the application and additional documents electronically or to scan or copy them before sending, them. Where the Court considers that important information in your application is missing, you may have to rewrite it. In such cases, you will be granted additional time and a copy of the application could be useful for the quick preparation of a new form.
Applications must be sent to the following address:
Court of Justice of the European Union
Registry of the Court
Rue du Fort Niedergrünewald
L-2925 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Applications may also be sent electronically by agents and lawyers entitled to practice before the courts of a Member State.
Legal aid
The procedure before the General Court is free of charge. However, you must be represented to apply to the Court of Justice of the European Union. As such, you may apply for legal aid. Read more and find the form to apply for legal aid.