TITLE 4: THE GENERAL COURT

Article 47

The first paragraph of Article 9, Articles 14 and 15, the first, second, fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 17 and Article 18 shall apply to the General Court and its members. Articles 10, 11 and 14 shall apply to the Registrar of the General Court mutatis mutandis.

Article 48

The General Court shall consist of twenty-five Judges.

Article 49

The members of the General Court may be called upon to perform the task of an Advocate-General. It shall be the duty of the Advocate-General, acting with complete impartiality and independence, to make, in open court, reasoned submissions on certain cases brought before the General Court in order to assist that Court in the performance of its task.

The criteria for selecting such cases, as well as the procedures for designating the Advocates-General, shall be laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the General Court. A member called upon to perform the task of Advocate-General in a case may not take part in the judgment of the case.

Article 50

The General Court shall sit in chambers of three or five Judges. The Judges shall elect the Presidents of the chambers from among their number. The Presidents of the chambers of five Judges shall be elected for three years. They may be re-elected once. The composition of the chambers and the assignment of cases to them shall be governed by the Rules of Procedure. In certain cases governed by the Rules of Procedure, the General Court may sit as a full court or be constituted by a single Judge. The Rules of Procedure may also provide that the General Court may sit in a Grand Chamber in cases and under the conditions specified therein. Article 51 By way of derogation from the rule laid down in Article 3-358(1) of the Constitution, jurisdiction shall be reserved to the Court of Justice in the actions referred to in Articles III-365 and III-367 of the Constitution when they are brought by a Member State against: (a) an act of or failure to act by the European Parliament or the Council, or both those institutions acting jointly, except for: — European decisions adopted by the Council under the third subparagraph of Article 3-168(2) of the Constitution; — acts of the Council adopted pursuant to a Council act concerning measures to protect trade within the meaning of Article 3-315 of the Constitution; — acts of the Council by which the Council exercises implementing powers in accordance with Article I-37(2) of the Constitution (b) against an act of or failure to act by the Commission under Article 3-420(1) of the Constitution. Jurisdiction shall also be reserved to the Court of Justice in the actions referred to in the same Articles when they are brought by an institution of the Union against an act of or failure to act by the European Parliament or the Council or both of those institutions acting jointly or the Commission, or brought by an institution against an act of or failure to act by the European Central Bank.

Article 52

The President of the Court of Justice and the President of the General Court shall determine, by common accord, the conditions under which officials and other servants attached to the Court of Justice shall render their services to the General Court to enable it to function. Certain officials or other servants shall be responsible to the Registrar of the General Court under the authority of the President of the General Court.

Article 53 The procedure before the General Court shall be governed by Title III. Such further and more detailed provisions as may be necessary shall be laid down in its Rules of Procedure. The Rules of Procedure may derogate from the fourth paragraph of Article 40 and from Article 41 in order to take account of the specific features of litigation in the field of intellectual property. Notwithstanding the fourth paragraph of Article 20, the Advocate-General may make his reasoned submissions in writing. Article 54 Where an application or other procedural document addressed to the General Court is lodged by mistake with the Registrar of the Court of Justice, it shall be transmitted immediately by that Registrar to the Registrar of the General Court. Likewise, where an application or other procedural document addressed to the Court of Justice is lodged by mistake with the Registrar of the General Court, it shall be transmitted immediately by that Registrar to the Registrar of the Court of Justice. Where the General Court finds that it does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine an action in respect of which the Court of Justice has jurisdiction, it shall refer that action to the Court of Justice. Likewise, where the Court of Justice finds that an action falls within the jurisdiction of the General Court, it shall refer that action to the General Court, whereupon that Court may not decline jurisdiction. Where the Court of Justice and the General Court are seised of cases in which the same relief is sought, the same issue of interpretation is raised or the validity of the same act is called in question, the General Court may, after hearing the parties, stay the proceedings before it until such time as the Court of Justice has delivered judgment, or, where the action is one brought pursuant to Article 3- 365 of the Constitution or pursuant to Article 146 of the EAEC Treaty, may decline jurisdiction so as to allow the Court of Justice to rule on such actions. In the same circumstances, the Court of Justice may also decide to stay the proceedings before it. In that event, the proceedings before the General Court shall continue. Where a Member State and an institution are challenging the same act, the General Court shall decline jurisdiction so that the Court of Justice may rule on those applications.

Article 55

Final decisions of the General Court, decisions disposing of the substantive issues in part only or disposing of a procedural issue concerning a plea of lack of competence or inadmissibility, shall be notified by the Registrar of the General Court to all parties as well as all Member States and the institutions of the Union even if they did not intervene in the case before the General Court.

Article 56

An appeal may be brought before the Court of Justice, within two months of the notification of the decision appealed against, against final decisions of the General Court and decisions of that Court disposing of the substantive issues in part only or disposing of a procedural issue concerning a plea of lack of competence or inadmissibility. Such an appeal may be brought by any party which has been unsuccessful, in whole or in part, in its submissions. However, interveners other than the Member States and the institutions of the Union may bring such an appeal only where the decision of the General Court directly affects them. With the exception of cases relating to disputes between the Union and its servants, an appeal may also be brought by Member States and institutions of the Union which did not intervene in the proceedings before the General Court. Such Member States and institutions shall be in the same position as Member States or institutions which intervened at first instance. Article 57 Any person whose application to intervene has been dismissed by the General Court may appeal to the Court of Justice within two weeks from the notification of the decision dismissing the application. The parties to the proceedings may appeal to the Court of Justice against any decision of the General Court made pursuant to Article 3-379(1) or (2) or the fourth paragraph of Article 3-401 of the Constitution, or Article 157 or the third paragraph of Article 164 of the EAEC Treaty, within two months from their notification. The appeal referred to in the first two paragraphs shall be heard and determined under the procedure referred to in Article 39. Article 58 An appeal to the Court of Justice shall be limited to points of law. It shall lie on the grounds of lack of competence of the General Court, a breach of procedure before it which adversely affects the interests of the appellant as well as the infringement of Union law by the General Court. No appeal shall lie regarding only the amount of the costs or the party ordered to pay them.

Article 59

Where an appeal is brought against a decision of the General Court, the procedure before the Court of Justice shall consist of a written part and an oral part. In accordance with conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure, the Court of Justice, having heard the Advocate-General and the parties, may dispense with the oral procedure.

Article 60

Without prejudice to Article 3-379(1) and (2) of the Constitution or Article 157 of the EAEC Treaty, an appeal shall not have suspensory effect. By way of derogation from Article 3-380 of the Constitution, decisions of the General Court declaring a European law or European regulation binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States to be void shall take effect only as from the date of expiry of the period referred to in the first paragraph of Article 56 of this Statute or, if an appeal shall have been brought within that period, as from the date of dismissal of the appeal, without prejudice, however, to the right of a party to apply to the Court of Justice, pursuant to Article 3-379(1) and (2) of the Constitution, and Article 157 of the EAEC Treaty for the suspension of the effects of the European law or European regulation which has been declared void or for the prescription of any other interim measure.

Article 61

If the appeal is well founded, the Court of Justice shall quash the decision of the General Court. It may itself give final judgment in the matter, where the state of the proceedings so permits, or refer the case back to the General Court for judgment. Where a case is referred back to the General Court, that Court shall be bound by the decision of the Court of Justice on points of law. When an appeal brought by a Member State or an institution of the Union, which did not intervene in the proceedings before the General Court, is well founded, the Court of Justice may, if it considers this necessary, state which of the effects of the decision of the General Court which has been quashed shall be considered as definitive in respect of the parties to the litigation. Article 62 In the cases provided for in Article 3-358(2) and (3) of the Constitution, where the First Advocate- General considers that there is a serious risk of the unity or consistency of Union law being affected, he may propose that the Court of Justice review the decision of the General Court. The proposal must be made within one month of delivery of the decision by the General Court. Within one month of receiving the proposal made by the First Advocate-General, the Court of Justice shall decide whether or not the decision should be reviewed.