Order of the General Court (Sixth Chamber) of 6 September 2011 – ClientEarth v Council

(Case T-452/10)

Action for annulment – Representation by a lawyer who is not a third party – Manifest inadmissibility

Procedure – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements – Conditions relating to a signatory – Third party capacity in relation to the parties – Charity represented by one of its trustees – Inadmissibility – Trustee being neither an employee nor a director entrusted with the daily management of the association – No effect (Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 19, third and fourth paras; Rules of Procedure of the General Court, Art. 43(1), first para.) (see paras 15-20)

Re:

APPLICATION for annulment of the Council decision of 26 July 2010 refusing to grant the applicant full access to an opinion of the Council’s Legal Service (Document No 6865/09) on the European Parliament’s draft amendments to the Commission’s proposal for a regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ 2001 L 145, p. 43).

Operative part

1. The action is dismissed as being manifestly inadmissible.

2. ClientEarth is ordered to bear its own costs and also pay those incurred by the Council of the European Union.

3. The Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden are ordered to bear their own respective costs.