You can apply to the Court of Justice of the European Union if you believe that a European Union act fails to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Unlike the European Court of Human Rights, you do not need to exhaust internal remedies to apply to the Court of Justice of the European Union. However, bringing a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union is a process that needs to fulfil specific and strict conditions.
The following conditions are required to apply for an action for annulment, which is the action most suited to defend your human rights. Bear in mind that the conditions for other actions, such as actions for failure to act and actions for damages, may differ.
This means that you may not challenge a piece of legislation enacted by National Assembly or other national body. The Court of Justice of the European Union only reviews the legality of acts produced by a European Union institution, body, office or organisation.
The act must be a legal act, an act adopted by the Council, the Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Parliament, or the European Council. You may not challenge recommendations and opinions.
The Court of Justice of the European Union may annul acts based on the grounds of lack of competence, infringement of an essential procedural requirement, misuse of powers, or infringement of the Treaties or of any rule of law relating to their application.
For human rights purposes, the most relevant ground for annulment is infringement of the Treaties, which includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This means that you must demonstrate that the act you intend on challenging infringes on rights protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Individuals are considered as non-preferential plaintiffs to the Court of Justice of the European Union. As such, you must demonstrate that you have an interest in taking any legal action before the Court. You have an interest for an action of annulment, if the act you intend to challenge is addressed to you. This means that the act must mention you specifically.
example In 2008, the Court of Justice annulled a regulation freezing the assets of a private individual and of a charity. Both were directly mentioned in the regulation, and claimed the regulation infringed on their right to property and on their right to a fair trial.
If the act you wish to challenge does not mention you specifically, you may still demonstrate an interest if the act is of direct and individual concern to you. The Court has further detailed these notions: an act is of direct concern to you if it affects your legal situation directly, and if it leaves no discretion to whichever institution is tasked with implementing it. An act is of individual concern if it affects you because of certain attributes peculiar to you or by circumstance that differentiate you from other persons. As such, you are distinguished individually.
If you wish to challenge the conformity of an act, you must submit your application within 2 months of its publication or notification. However, if the act was neither published nor notified, the deadline runs from the moment you gained knowledge of its existence. This could be months, or even years later.
important You should send your application as soon as possible, as the Court may ask you for additional documents which you have not included with your initial application. In that case, you will be given additional time to submit these documents to the Court. If you fail to provide the requested documents, your application may be rejected as inadmissible.