The Court of Justice of the European Union, the judicial authority of the European Union, ensures that EU law is interpreted and applied correctly. As part of that mission, the Court of Justice of the European Union

• reviews the legality of the acts of the EU's institutions
• ensures that the Member States comply with obligations under the Treaties
• interprets EU law at the request of national courts and tribunals

It is composed of two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court.

Many rules of national law stem from EU law and affect areas of the daily lives of citizens: employment, environment, consumer protection, free movement of goods, freedom to provide services, etc.

More than 47 267 judgments and orders have been delivered by the two Courts since 1952.

The Court of Justice is composed of 27 Judges (one per Member State) and 11 Advocates General. The Judges and the Advocates General are appointed by common accord of the Member States for a renewable term of six years.

The Judges elect the President and Vice-President from among their number for a renewable term of three years. They act entirely impartially and independently.

The Court of Justice ensures that EU law is interpreted and applied correctly and uniformly throughout the European Union. National courts can address requests for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice and ask for clarification on the meaning of EU legislation or its applicability. Direct actions can also be brought before the Court of Justice, seeking the annulment of an EU act or a declaration that a Member State is not respecting EU law. Subsequently, if the Member State does not rectify the situation, the Court can impose fines on it. Appeals can be brought against decisions of the General Court, which the Court of Justice has the power to set aside.

The General Court has 2 Judges per Member State. The Judges are appointed by common accord of the Member States for a renewable term of six years. The Judges elect the President and Vice-President from among their number for a renewable term of three years. They carry out their tasks with complete impartiality.

The General Court has jurisdiction - at first instance - over actions brought by natural or legal persons and by Member States, particularly in the following areas: intellectual property, economic and monetary policy, competition, restrictive measures, access to documents, agriculture, procurement and health. The General Court has jurisdiction to rule on requests for preliminary ruling, transferred by the Court of Justice, concerning the following specific areas: VAT, excise duties, the Customs Code, the tariff classification of goods, compensation and assistance to air passengers and the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

Appeals on points of law only may be brought, within two months, before the Court of Justice against decisions of the General Court.

Cases are heard in open court, before the Judges and Advocate General who may put questions to the parties.

Generally, the hearings take place from Tuesday to Thursday, beginning at 9.30am. Their duration varies depending on the specifics of the cases. Citizens can attend public hearings.

Simultaneous interpretation is provided in several languages to ensure that the parties, lawyers, Judges and the Advocate General can communicate during the hearing.

To ensure that all citizens have equal access to justice, any one of the EU's 24 official languages can be used as the language of the case.

The public hearing is held in the language of the case and in the languages of the intervening Member States.

The Judges deliberate and decide on judgments. In the deliberation, they meet without interpreters or other colleagues.

The grand conference room also hosts the weekly General Meeting of the Court of Justice (including Judges, Advocates General and the Registrar). The General Meeting decides the formation of the Court to which each case will be assigned and decides on any measures of inquiry.

The Advocate General is a Member of the Court of Justice but does not take part in the deliberations.

The Advocate General participates in the hearing and some weeks later delivers an Opinion. In that Opinion, the Advocate General suggests to the Court, entirely independently, a solution to the dispute.

The Court is not required to follow that Opinion.

If the case raises no new question of law, the Court may decide to give a judgment without an Opinion.

Judgments and the Opinions of Advocates General are available in all of the official languages on the Curia website on the day of their delivery.

They are, in the majority of cases, subsequently published in the Reports of cases.

Consequently, more than 62 000 documents, all language versions included, were published in the Reports in 2024.

In order to translate into the 24 official languages, 24 language units are responsible for legal translation. This involves 552 language combinations, necessary to enable the work of the Courts. The language units, supported by 3 units that provide support across the entire service, along with the Interpretation Directorate, contribute to the implementation of multilingualism - a fundamental value of the European Union.

The units' lawyer-linguists mainly translate procedural documents, Opinions and judgments. The translation of these documents into all of the EU's official languages reflects the principle of equal access to justice for all EU citizens.

In 2024, 1 371 000 pages were translated.

The Research and Documentation Directorate provides the two Courts with information about the national law of the Member States.

It carries out research and legal analysis to assist the two Courts in their judicial work.

It also contributes to making case-law and European Union law public through research tools available on the Curia website (curia.europa.eu).

The seat of the Court of Justice of the European Union has been in Luxembourg since its creation in 1952.

The first Palais (courthouse) of the Court was opened in 1973 on the Kirchberg Plateau and various extensions have since been added. Between 1988 and 1994, the Erasmus, Thomas More and Thémis buildings were built.

In 2008, the new Palais, designed by the architect Dominique Perrault, was opened. It is made up of the renovated original Palais, the Anneau, two towers and the Gallery.

In 2019, the fifth extension of the Court was opened. This new third tower is the tallest building in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has put in place an Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in line with Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 in order to reduce its environmental impact in a structured way.

On 15 December 2016, the Court was awarded its EMAS certificate by the State of Luxembourg.

The EMAS system allows organisations to take voluntary measures to lessen their impact on the environment.

The Registries act as gateways to their respective courts and are the interlocutors of the parties throughout the court proceedings.

The Registries help the Judges in the daily administration of EU law.

The Courts' Registries and the parties correspond via a computer application, e-Curia, which enables the secure electronic filing and transmission of procedural documents, providing litigants and the EU's Courts with an effective and efficient service.

More than 2 250 employees, all EU citizens, work at the Court. They work in the Chambers of the Judges and Advocates General, and in the linguistic and administrative services. They have a variety of professional profiles, some specific to the Court of Justice (such as lawyer-linguists) and others not (lawyers, IT specialists, assistants, managers, etc.).

Called upon to work in a multicultural and multilingual environment, they all speak several of the 24 official languages. They are specialists in their own fields, working to serve EU law and the European project.

Judges can be assured that the documents and archives held (364 500 volumes, the majority of which relate to EU law, and more than a hundred databases) will be managed, recovered, disseminated and conserved.

Citizens also have access to the Court's administrative documents and the Court's historical archives.