Council Decision

of 2 November 2004

establishing the European Union Civil Service Tribunal

(2004/752/EC, Euratom)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 225a and 245 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Articles 140b and 160 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Justice,

Whereas:

(1) Article 225a of the EC Treaty and Article 140b of the Euratom Treaty empower the Council to create judicial panels to hear and determine at first instance certain classes of action or proceeding brought in specific areas, to lay down the rules on the organisation of the panel and the extent of the jurisdiction conferred upon it.

(2) The establishment of a specific judicial panel to exercise jurisdiction at first instance in European civil service disputes, currently within the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, would improve the operation of the Community courts system. It answers the call made in Declaration No 16 relating to Article 225a of the EC Treaty [1], adopted when the Treaty of Nice was signed on 26 February 2001.

(3) A judicial panel should accordingly be attached to the Court of First Instance, that shall for institutional and organisational purposes be an integral part of the Court of Justice institution, an institution with members enjoying a similar status to members of the Court of First Instance.

(4) The new judicial panel should be given a name that distinguishes it in its trial formations from the trial formations of the Court of First Instance.

(5) To make the court system generally easy to understand, the provisions relating to the judicial panel's jurisdiction, composition, organisation and procedure should be laid down in an Annex to the Statute of the Court of Justice.

(6) The number of judges of the judicial panel should match its caseload. To facilitate decision-making by the Council in the appointment of judges, provision should be made for the Council to establish an independent Advisory Committee to verify that applications received meet the relevant conditions.

(7) The judicial panel should try cases by a procedure matching the specific features of the disputes that are to be referred to it, examining the possibilities for amicable settlement of disputes at all stages of the procedure.

(8) In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 225a of the EC Treaty and the third paragraph of Article 140b of the Euratom Treaty, appeals may be lodged at the Court of First Instance against decisions of the judicial panel on points of law only in the same conditions as those governing appeals lodged at the Court of Justice against decisions of the Court of First Instance. The relevant provisions of the Statute of the Court of Justice are reproduced in the Annex to the Statute relating to the judicial panel, to avoid cross-references that would make the general set of provisions difficult to read.

(9) Provision should be made in this Decision for transitional arrangements so that the judicial panel can exercise its functions as soon as it is established,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

A judicial panel shall be attached to the Court of First Instance of the European Communities to hear disputes involving the European Union civil service and shall be known as the "European Union Civil Service Tribunal". The European Union Civil Service Tribunal shall have its headquarters at the Court of First Instance.

Article 2

The Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice shall be amended as follows:

1. the following Title shall be inserted:

"TITLE IVa

JUDICIAL PANELS

Article 62a

The provisions relating to the jurisdiction, composition, organisation and procedure of the judicial panels established under Articles 225a of the EC Treaty and 140b of the EAEC Treaty are set out in an Annex to this Statute.";

2. Annex I, as set out in the Annex to this Decision, shall be added.

Article 3

1. The first President of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal shall be appointed for three years in the same manner as its judges, unless the Council decides that the procedure laid down in Article 4(1) of Annex I to the Statute of the Court of Justice, as set out in the Annex to this Decision, shall be applied.

2. Immediately after all the judges of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal have taken oath, the President of the Council shall choose by lot three judges of the Tribunal whose duties are to end, by way of derogation from the first sentence of the second paragraph of Article 2 of Annex I to the Statute of the Court, upon expiry of the first three years of their term of office.

3. Cases referred to in Article 1 of Annex I to the Statute of the Court of Justice of which the Court of First Instance is seised on the date on which that Article enters into force but in which the written procedure provided for in Article 52 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance has not yet been completed shall be referred to the European Union Civil Service Tribunal.

4. Until the entry into force of its rules of procedure, the European Union Civil Service Tribunal shall apply mutatis mutandis the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, except for the provisions concerning a single judge.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, with the exception of Article 1 of Annex I to the Statute of the Court of Justice, as set out in the Annex to this Decision.

Article 1 of Annex I to the Statute of the Court of Justice shall enter into force on the day of the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the Decision of the President of the Court of Justice recording that the European Union Civil Service Tribunal has been constituted in accordance with law.

Done at Brussels, 2 November 2004.

For the Council

The President

B. R. Bot

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[1] OJ C 80, 10.3.2001, p. 80.

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