On 19 October 1999, the Court of First Instance held a symposium to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its establishment.
The Court of First Instance was attached to the Court of Justice in 1989 (Council Decision of 24 October 1988).
The Court of First Instance, which is composed of 15 Judges appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States, is the judicial body of the European Communities with jurisdiction at first instance. It is competent to determine all actions brought by natural and legal persons against decisions of the Community institutions in all areas, including in particular the following; competition, State aid, anti-dumping, transparency and access to the administrative documents of the institutions. It deals with Community civil service disputes and has jurisdiction in actions brought against decisions of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market ("OHIM") in the field of the Community trade mark.
Its activities have grown steadily over the last ten years. In quantitative terms, approximately 3 000 actions have been disposed of since its creation. In 1998 alone, 319 cases were disposed of, and since the beginning of 1999, the Court of First Instance has disposed of a further 262 cases.
The symposium addressed two essential subjects concerning the established protection of citizens and undertakings' rights; firstly the accumulated results of ten years' legal protection afforded to individuals under Community law and secondly, transparency in the Community institutions.
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