The Judicial System of the European Union: A Comprehensive Guide

Definition of the CJEU: The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the supreme judicial authority of the European Union. Its primary function is to oversee the legality of EU acts and ensure their uniform interpretation across all member states.
Purpose and Rationale:
- Ensuring Uniformity: To guarantee that EU law is applied exactly the same way in every member state, preventing localized interpretations that would undermine the single market or union principles.
- Prevention of Power Abuse: To ensure that neither the member states nor the EU institutions exceed their legal authority or misuse their power.
Methodology of Operation: The system operates through a two-tiered institutional framework consisting of the Court of Justice and the General Court (Tribunal), utilizing various specific types of legal actions and lawsuits.
Location: The CJEU is headquartered in Luxembourg.

Founding: The Court of Justice was established in $1952$ under the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
Expansion of Competencies: The scope of the Court's authority has expanded significantly over time. A pivotal moment was the Maastricht Treaty in $1993$ , which granted the Court the power to impose financial sanctions on member states for failing to comply with its judgments.
Institutional Structural Changes:
- In $1988$ , the Court of First Instance was created to alleviate the heavy workload of the Court of Justice.
- The Lisbon Treaty later modified this structure, renaming the Court of First Instance to the General Court (Tribunal).
Broader Role: In the modern system, the CJEU resolves disputes involves member states, EU institutions, private enterprises, and individual natural persons.

The Court of Justice (Soudní dvůr):
- Composition: It consists of $27$ judges, representing one judge from each member state.
- Advocates General: The Court is assisted by $11$ Advocates General. Their role is to serve law and justice by providing independent, expert opinions on cases. Importantly, they do not represent any of the parties involved in the dispute.
- Scope of Jurisdiction: It primarily handles preliminary questions (requests for rulings), actions for failure to fulfill obligations (infringement procedures), and appeals against decisions made by the General Court.
- Leadership and Rotation: The President of the Court is elected for a term of $3$ years. To ensure continuity and fresh legal perspectives, $1/2$ of the judges are changed every $3$ years.
The General Court (Tribunal):
- Composition: It consists of $54$ judges, with two judges appointed per member state.
- Jurisdiction: This court primarily hears direct actions brought by natural or legal persons (individuals or companies). An example provided is a company filing a lawsuit against a fine imposed by the European Commission.

Appointment and Terms: Both judges and Advocates General are appointed for a renewable term of $6$ years. A fundamental requirement for their appointment is that they must demonstrate absolute independence in their judicial capacity.
Judicial Formats (Chambers):
- Small Chamber: The majority of standard cases are decided by panels of either $3$ or $5$ judges.
- Grand Chamber: More complex or significant cases are heard by a panel of $15$ judges.
- Plenary Session (Full Court): In exceptional circumstances, the full assembly of all $27$ judges sits together to resolve a case.

Preliminary Ruling Procedure (Řízení o předběžné otázce): National courts in member states refer questions to the Court of Justice regarding the interpretation or validity of EU law. This mechanism ensures that EU rules are applied consistently across the entire Union.
Infringement Action (Žaloba na porušení povinnosti): This lawsuit is brought by the European Commission or another member state against a member state that has failed to fulfill its legal obligations under the EU treaties.
Action for Annulment (Žaloba na neplatnost): This action targets EU legal acts that are believed to violate primary EU law. The goal of this proceeding is the total or partial annulment (cancellation) of the act.
Action for Failure to Act (Žaloba na nečinnost): This is filed when an EU institution has a legal obligation to act but fails to perform its duties.
Action for Damages (Žaloba na náhradu škody): This allows individuals or private firms to seek financial compensation for damages caused by the illegal or wrongful actions of EU institutions.

Van Gend en Loos: This landmark judgment established the principle of direct effect, meaning EU law can grant rights to individuals that they can enforce directly before national courts.
Costa vs. ENEL: This case confirmed the principle of primacy (or supremacy) of EU law, establishing that EU law takes precedence over conflicting national laws of member states.
Francovich: This ruling established state liability, asserting that member states are obligated to compensate citizens for damages incurred when the state fails to implement an EU directive correctly or at all.
Cassis de Dijon: A critical judgment regarding the free movement of goods; it reinforced consumer protection and the principle of mutual recognition between member states.
Defrenne vs. Sabena: This judgment confirmed the principle of equality between men and women, specifically the prohibition of gender-based discrimination in remuneration (equal pay) for equal work.