The General Court (), informally known as the European General Court ( EGC), is a constituent court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of the European Union by individuals and member states, although certain matters are reserved for the European Court of Justice. Decisions of the General Court can be appealed to the Court of Justice, but only on a point of law. Prior to the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, it was known as the Court of First Instance.
Competence The General Court has competence over the following cases. Actions for annulment brought by individuals Such actions are brought by individuals against acts of the Union institutions. To be admissible, the act being challenged must either be directly addressed to the person; or be a regulatory act that directly affects that person and needs no further implementing measure to come into effect; or directly and individually concern the legal situation of the person bringing the case.
Actions for annulment brought by EU member states
Such actions are brought by EU member states against acts of the European Commission. Sometimes acts of the Council of the EU can also be targeted, if they concern state aid, trade and anti-dumping issues or other acts where the Council exercises implementing powers.
Actions for failure to act by individuals These actions can be brought when a EU institution has been asked to act but has failed to do so.
Actions for damages Actions for the reparation of damage caused by unlawful conduct on the part of a Union institution.
Actions based on an arbitration clause Disputes concerning contracts in public or private law entered into by the Union, containing such a clause.
Actions concerning the civil service (disputes between the Union and its officials and other servants) – from 2005 to 2016 these cases were transferred to the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, but returned to the General Court when its size was doubled.
References for preliminary rulings
All such cases are initially brought before the Court of Justice, which can then transfer them to the General Court when they concern:
VAT customs, excise duties or the tariff classification of goods greenhouse gas emissions trading passenger compensation
The Court of Justice does not transfer these cases, and instead rules itself, when they involve a decision of principle that may affect the unity or consistency of EU law.
Staff cases
Cases where a member of the staff of an EU institution has a grievance towards its employer. Originally dealt with by the European Union Civil Service Tribunal, the General Court took them over when the Tribunal was dissolved on 1 September 2016.
All cases heard at first instance by the General Court may be subject to a right of appeal to the Court of Justice on points of law only. However, due to the high number of appeals lodged, a mechanism is now in place to filter them and allow only a few to reach the Court of Justice.
Composition Since February 2020 the General Court is composed of 54 Judges; this follows a 2016 reform which increased the number of judges to two per member state by 2019, and the departure of the UK from the EU at the end of January 2020. The Judges are appointed for a renewable term of six years by common accord of the governments of the Member States. , there are 49 Judges in post: 23 member states have nominated both their judges, whilst Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia have nominated just one, and Slovenia has nominated neither.
The members of the General Court elect their president and the presidents of the Chambers of five Judges from among their number for a renewable period of three years.
There are no permanent Advocates General attached to the General Court (unlike the European Court of Justice, which has eleven Advocates General). However, the task of an Advocate General may be performed in a limited number of cases by a Judge nominated to do so. In practice this has been done occasionally.
List of presidents
ElectedTerm endedJudge25 September 198918 September 1995 José Luís da Cruz Vilaça18 September 19954 March 1998 Antonio Saggio4 March 199817 September 2007 Bo Vesterdorf17 September 200726 September 2019 Marc Jaeger27 September 201916 September 2026 Marc van der Woude16 September 2026Incumbent Savvas Papasavvas
List of vice-presidents ElectedTerm endedJudge17 September 201319 September 2016 Heikki Kanninen20 September 201626 September 2019 Marc van der Woude27 September 201916 September 2026 Savvas Papasavvas23 September 2026Incumbent Maria José Costeira
List of judges
Name Country Elected Current term endsOtherViktor Kreuschitz Austria20132022Gerhard Hesse Austria20192022Paul Nihoul Belgium 2016 2022Geert De Baere Belgium 2017 2022Mariyana Kancheva Bulgaria 2011 2025Alexander Kornezov Bulgaria 2016 2025President of the Tenth ChamberVesna Tomljenović Croatia 2013 2025President of the Second ChamberTamara Perišin Croatia 2019 2025Savvas Papasavvas Cyprus20042022Vice-president of the General Court (2019–2022)Anna Marcoulli Cyprus20162022President of the Sixth ChamberPetra Škvařilová-Pelzl Czech Republic 2019 2025David Petrlík Czech Republic 2021 2025Sten Frimodt Nielsen Denmark 2007 2022Jesper Svenningsen Denmark 2016 2022President of the Eighth ChamberLauri Madise Estonia 2013 2022Iko Nõmm Estonia 2019 2022Heikki Kanninen Finland 2009 2022President of the First ChamberVice-president of the General Court (2013–2016)Tuula Pynnä Finland 2019 2022Stéphane Gervasoni France 2013 2025President of the Fourth ChamberLaurent Truchot France 2019 2025Judge (2007–2013)Johannes Laitenberger Germany 2019 2025Gabriele Steinfatt Germany 2019 2025Dimitris Gratsias Greece 2010 2022Constantinos Iliopoulos Greece 2016 2022TBA Hungary Zoltán Csehi Hungary 2016 2022Suzanne Kingston Ireland 2021 2025Colm Mac Eochaidh Ireland 2017 2025Roberto Mastroianni Italy 2019 2025Ornella Porchia Italy 2019 2025TBA Latvia Inga Reine Latvia 2016 2025Rimvydas Norkus Lithuania 2019 2025Virgilijus Valančius Lithuania 2016 2019*Marc Jaeger Luxembourg 1996 2022President of the General Court (2007–2019)Dean Spielmann Luxembourg 2016 2022President of the Fifth ChamberEugène Buttigieg Malta 2012 2025Ramona Frendo Malta 2019 2025Marc van der Woude Netherlands 2010 2022President of the General Court (2019–2022)Vice-president of the General Court (2016–2019)René Barents Netherlands 2016 2022Krystyna Kowalik-Bańczyk Poland 2016 2022Nina Półtorak Poland 2016 2016*Ion Gâlea Romania 2021 2022Mirela Stancu Romania 2019 2022Ricardo Da Silva Passos Portugal20162022President of the Seventh ChamberMaria José Costeira Portugal20162022President of the Ninth ChamberJuraj Schwarcz Slovakia 2009 2022TBA SlovakiaMaja Brkan Slovenia 2021 2025Damjan Kukovec SloveniaTBAJosé Martín y Pérez de Nanclares Spain 2019 2025Miguel Sampol Pucurull Spain 2019 2025Ulf Christophe Öberg Sweden 2016 2025Fredrik Schalin Sweden 2016 2025 * Judge continues to hold the office until their successor takes up the duties according to the Article 5(3) of the Protocol No. 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU
List of former judges Name Country Elected Term ended Ref.Josef Azizi Austria19 January 199516 September 2013Koen Lenaerts Belgium25 September 19896 October 2003Franklin Dehousse Belgium6 October 200319 September 2016Teodor Tchipev Bulgaria 12 January 2007 29 June 2010 Irena Pelikánová Czech Republic12 May 200426 September 2019Jan M. Passer Czech Republic19 September 20166 October 2020Bo Versterdorf Denmark25 September 198917 September 2007Küllike Jürimäe Estonia12 May 200423 October 2013Virpi Tiili Finland 8 January 1995 6 October 2009 Jacques Biancarelli France25 September 198918 September 1995André Potocki France18 September 199519 September 2001Hubert Legal France19 September 200117 September 2007Heinrich Kirschner Germany25 September 19896 February 1997Jörg Pirrung Germany11 June 199717 September 2007Alfred Dittrich Germany17 September 200726 September 2019Christos G. Yeraris Greece25 September 198918 September 1992Andreas Kalogerpoulos Greece18 September 199217 September 1998Michail Vilaras Greece17 September 199825 October 2010Ottó Czúcz Hungary12 May 200419 September 2016Barna Berke Hungary19 September 20162 August 2021Donal Barrington Ireland25 September 198910 January 1996John Cooke Ireland10 January 199615 September 2008Kevin O'Higgins Ireland15 September 200816 September 2013Anthony M. Collins Ireland16 September 20137 October 2021Antonio Saggio Italy25 September 19894 March 1998Paolo Mengozzi Italy4 March 19983 May 2006Enzo Moavero Milanesi Italy3 May 200615 November 2011Guido Berardis Italy17 September 201231 August 2019Ezio Perillo Italy19 September 201626 September 2019Ingrida Labucka Latvia12 May 200425 February 2020Vilenas Vadapalas Lithuania12 May 200416 September 2013Egidijus Bieliūnas Lithuania16 September 201326 September 2019Romain Schintgen Luxembourg25 September 198911 July 1996Ena Cremona Malta 12 May 2004 22 March 2012 Peter George Xuereb Malta6 June 20168 October 2018Cornelis Paulus Briët Netherlands25 September 198917 September 1998Arjen Meij Netherlands17 September 199813 September 2010 Irena Wiszniewska-Bialecka Poland15 May 200419 September 2016Nina Półtorak Poland13 April 201631 August 2016José Luis Da Cruz Vilaça Portugal25 September 198918 September 1995Rui Manuel Gens De Moura Ramos Portugal19 September 199531 March 2003Maria Eguénia Martins De Nazaré Ribeiro Portugal31 March 200319 September 2016Valeriu M. Ciuca Romania 12 January 2007 26 November 2010Andrei Popescu Romania26 November 201019 September 2016Octavia Spineanu-Matei Romania19 September 2016 7 October 2021 Daniel Šváby Slovakia 21 May 2004 6 October 2010 Verica Trstenjak Slovenia7 July 20046 October 2006Miro Prek Slovenia6 October 200626 September 2019Rafael Garcia-Valdecasas Y Fernández Spain25 September 198917 September 2007Santiago Soldevila Fragoso Spain17 September 200716 September 2013Ignacio Ulloa Rubio Spain16 September 201326 September 2019Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo Ibáñez-Martín Spain13 April 201626 September 2019Pernilla Lindh Sweden18 January 19956 October 2006Nils Wahl Sweden6 October 200628 November 2012Carl Wetter Sweden18 March 201319 September 2016Former Member StateDavid A. O. Edward United Kingdom25 September 198910 March 1992Christopher William Bellamy United Kingdom10 March 199215 December 1999Nicholas James Forwood United Kingdom15 December 19997 October 2015Ian Stewart Forrester United Kingdom1 October 201531 January 2020
List of registrars ElectedTerm endedJudge27 September 19896 October 2005 Hans Jung6 October 200530 April 2023 Emmanuel Coulon5 June 2023Incumbent Vittorio Di Bucci
Procedure The General Court has its own Rules of Procedure. The 1991 rules were replaced by revised Rules of Procedure which came into effect on 1 July 2015.General Court of the European Union, New procedural rules adopted by the General Court, Press Release 73/15, published 19 June 2015, accessed 15 November 2022 The Court's procedure includes a written phase and an oral phase. The proceedings are conducted in the language chosen by the petitioner. As in the European Court of Justice, the working language of the Court is nevertheless French, and this includes the language the judges deliberate in and the drafting language of preliminary reports and judgments.
The Court is separated into 9 divisions (called 'chambers') sat by 3-judge benches, except for the 7th division whose bench is sat by 4 judges. Each chamber has an extended composition of 5 judges. Cases are assigned by the President of the Court to a relevant divisional presiding judge. The presiding judge assigned to the case then chooses a judge-reporter (judge-rapporteur) from the judges of the division, whose clerks write a preliminary report (rapport préalable) based on the parties' pleadings and applicable law.