ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT
27 November 2012(1)
(Legal aid)
In Case T-452/12 AJ,
EF, residing in Shomolu (Nigeria),
applicant,
v
European Parliament,
and
Council of the European Union,
defendants,
APPLICATION for legal aid under Article 95 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT
makes the following
Order
having regard to Article 94(3) of the Rules of Procedure,
having regard to Article 96(1) of the Rules of Procedure,
having regard to the application for legal aid lodged at the Registry of the Court on 10 October 2012,
having regard to the action in respect of which legal aid is sought, as described on the application form for legal aid,
having regard to the fact that under the sixth paragraph of Article 263 TFEU, proceedings for annulment must be instituted within two months of the publication of the contested measure, or of its notification to the plaintiff, or, in the absence thereof, of the day on which it came to the knowledge of the latter. Under Article 102(1) of the Rules of Procedure, where the period of time allowed for commencing proceedings against a measure adopted by an institution runs from the publication of that measure, that period shall run from the end of the 14th day after publication thereof in the Official Journal of the European Union. In accordance with Article 102(2) of the Rules of Procedure, that time-limit is to be extended on account of distance by a single period of 10 days,
having regard that, according to settled case law, that period of time is a matter of public policy, since it was established in order to ensure that legal positions are clear and certain and to avoid any discrimination or arbitrary treatment in the administration of justice, and the Court must ascertain of its own motion whether that time-limit was observed (Case C‑246/95 Coen [1997] ECR I‑403, paragraph 21, and Joined Cases T‑121/96 and T‑151/96 Mutual Aid Administration Services v Commission [1997] ECR II‑1355, paragraphs 38 and 39),
having regard that, in the present case, it is apparent that the disputed measure, Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national (OJ 2003 L 50, p. 1), was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 February 2003. Accordingly, the application for annulment fell to be brought no later than 5 May 2003,
having regard to the fact that the action envisaged thus appears to be manifestly inadmissible,
THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL COURT
hereby orders:
The application for legal aid in Case T-452/12 AJ is dismissed.
Luxembourg, 27 November 2012.