On account of security checks, visitors are requested to observe the timetable of their visit scrupulously.

Throughout their visit to the Court of Justice, visitors are requested to conduct themselves with decorum and restraint. Out of respect for the Court of Justice, visitors are requested to dress appropriately for a visit to a superior court.

Visitors who attend a hearing are requested to take their places in the courtroom before that hearing begins. Entering or leaving the courtroom during the hearing is not permitted and visitors are required to be silent throughout.

During hearings, it is forbidden to take photographs or to make recordings. In order to avoid interference with the interpreting equipment mobile telephones must be switched off (silent mode is not sufficient).

Every visitor must have an identification badge which he must wear, visibly, throughout the visit. For security reasons, visitors to the Court of Justice are only permitted in the public parts of the building, namely the courtrooms and the cafeteria and, of course, on the route laid down in the programme of the visit.

Group leaders are requested to ensure that their group members are supervised throughout their visit to the Court of Justice.

The Court of Justice has had to strengthen security measures in connection with access to buildings. Visitors are therefore requested to observe scrupulously the instructions given to them in this regard by security staff or their guide for the visit. It should be noted that visitors' bags will be scanned on arrival.

Visitors are not permitted to smoke in the buildings. It is also forbidden to eat or drink in the Court of Justice's public areas.

Please note that, in exceptional circumstances, the Court of Justice may cancel a planned visit.

In order to ensure the protection of persons accessing its buildings as well as that of the property and information which it possesses, the Court of Justice has put in place a video surveillance system, both inside and outside the sites which it occupies. The images recorded are kept for a limited period and are accessible only to a limited number of persons designated for that purpose.

The recording of images and surveillance by video camera are carried out in compliance with the legislation on the protection of personal data and privacy. Special signs placed near the site under surveillance indicate that the video surveillance system is in operation.

Personal data are collected in connection with the organisation of visits, for the purpose of ensuring that those visits take place under the best possible conditions (effective personal contacts and exchange of correspondence, definition of a programme for the visit, tailored to the language, level of education and interests of visitors). Those data are processed by the Directorate of Protocol and Information for the period necessary for the organisation and follow-up of the visit and are erased six years at the latest after the end of the visit. They are disclosed only to the organisers of the visits (the visitors concerned, the Directorate of Protocol and Information), to contributors who meet the visitors, to the Interpretation Directorate (where interpreting is necessary) and, where appropriate, to the bodies authorised to carry out monitoring under the legislation. Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (OJ 2001 L 8, p. 1), you have the right to access the data concerning you and, if necessary, to have them rectified. For further information in that connection or to access the data processed, please contact the Directorate of Protocol and Information  (e-mail). You can also have recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor.