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Preliminary ruling
A preliminary ruling is a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of European Union law that is given in response to a request (a preliminary reference) from a court or a tribunal of a member state. A preliminary ruling is a final determination of European Union law, with no scope for appeal. The ECJ hands down its decision to the referring court, which is then obliged to implement the ruling.
Preliminary rulings are issued by the ECJ. The Treaty of Lisbon provides that jurisdiction may be delegated to the General Court, but that provision has yet to be put into effect. If, as in Factortame, the ECJ holds that a member state's legislation conflicts with EU law, the member state is required to "disapply" such law, but the ECJ may not amend the member state's legislation itself.
Preliminary rulings make up the bulk of business in the Court of Justice of the European Union since few persons have locus standi to litigate in the Luxembourg court. "Privileged parties" with standing include all member states and EU institutions, but a private person or "undertaking" has standing only if it is the addressee of an EU decision.
If a court or tribunal of a member state finds a provision of EU law to be ambiguous, equivocal or unclear, it may seek a preliminary ruling, and a court or tribunal from which there is no appeal must make an application: this may include a body with both first instance and last instance powers. The case before the domestic court will be adjourned until the ECJ ruling is issued. The question to the ECJ must be short and succinct, but it may be accompanied by documents explaining the issue's context and circumstances. There is provision for litigants to comment on the reference: for example, in the case of pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH v Republik Österreich (case C-454/06), the Austria Press Agency (APA) and its subsidiary APA-OTS criticised the reference as "complex and not readily comprehensible". The ECJ may decline to give judgement in the absence of a genuine dispute on the basis that it will not consider "general or hypothetical questions".
Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides:
The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning:
Where such a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Member State, that court or tribunal may, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court to give a ruling thereon.
Where any such question is raised in a case pending before a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, that court or tribunal shall bring the matter before the Court.
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Preliminary ruling
A preliminary ruling is a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of European Union law that is given in response to a request (a preliminary reference) from a court or a tribunal of a member state. A preliminary ruling is a final determination of European Union law, with no scope for appeal. The ECJ hands down its decision to the referring court, which is then obliged to implement the ruling.
Preliminary rulings are issued by the ECJ. The Treaty of Lisbon provides that jurisdiction may be delegated to the General Court, but that provision has yet to be put into effect. If, as in Factortame, the ECJ holds that a member state's legislation conflicts with EU law, the member state is required to "disapply" such law, but the ECJ may not amend the member state's legislation itself.
Preliminary rulings make up the bulk of business in the Court of Justice of the European Union since few persons have locus standi to litigate in the Luxembourg court. "Privileged parties" with standing include all member states and EU institutions, but a private person or "undertaking" has standing only if it is the addressee of an EU decision.
If a court or tribunal of a member state finds a provision of EU law to be ambiguous, equivocal or unclear, it may seek a preliminary ruling, and a court or tribunal from which there is no appeal must make an application: this may include a body with both first instance and last instance powers. The case before the domestic court will be adjourned until the ECJ ruling is issued. The question to the ECJ must be short and succinct, but it may be accompanied by documents explaining the issue's context and circumstances. There is provision for litigants to comment on the reference: for example, in the case of pressetext Nachrichtenagentur GmbH v Republik Österreich (case C-454/06), the Austria Press Agency (APA) and its subsidiary APA-OTS criticised the reference as "complex and not readily comprehensible". The ECJ may decline to give judgement in the absence of a genuine dispute on the basis that it will not consider "general or hypothetical questions".
Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides:
The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings concerning:
Where such a question is raised before any court or tribunal of a Member State, that court or tribunal may, if it considers that a decision on the question is necessary to enable it to give judgment, request the Court to give a ruling thereon.
Where any such question is raised in a case pending before a court or tribunal of a Member State against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy under national law, that court or tribunal shall bring the matter before the Court.