About the Court of Justice of the EU

What does the Court do?

The Court of Justice of the European Union was created in 1952. Its mission is to enforce and interpret EU law.

To do this, the Court

• checks if EU decisions and laws are legal 
• makes sure that Member States and EU institutions follow these laws 
• when a national court does not know exactly how to interpret EU law, or has doubts about whether an EU act is valid, replies to questions from that national court to make it clearer 

How is the Court structured?

The Court of Justice of the EU comprises two different courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court (created in 1988). Each court has clear competencies in terms of what cases each can hear.

The Court of Justice hears

• most of the cases involving questions asked by national courts, except in a few subject areas that are transferred to the General Court
• cases brought by the Commission against Member States who have allegedly infringed EU law
• most cases brought by Member States or EU institutions challenging EU legislation
• appeals against General Court judgments

The General Court hears

• cases brought by individuals, companies and organisations challenging EU acts
• some cases involving questions referred by national courts where the questions are about
  • VAT
  • customs, excise duties or the tariff classification of goods
  • greenhouse gas emissions trading
  • air passenger compensation
• some cases brought by Member States challenging decisions of the Commission or the Council

You can find out more about these courts on the pages dedicated to them (Court of Justice and General Court).

Who can bring cases?

The Court cannot choose which cases it hears or which subjects it deals with. All cases which are admissible according to the Court’s rules must be heard and decided. All the Court’s judgments have come about because a legal problem needed to be resolved in a case brought – directly or through national courts – by citizens, companies, organisations, Member States or EU institutions.

Not all cases can be brought directly to the Court. There are clear rules about the types of cases that the Court can hear. You can find out more about this on each Court’s page and on the page Can I bring my case to the Court?

Who works at the Court?

Members

Each of the two courts which make up the Court of Justice of the EU has its own Judges. The Court of Justice has one Judge per Member State, 27 in total. The General Court has two Judges per Member State, 54 in total. The Court of Justice also has 11 Advocates General. Each Court also has a Registrar. Collectively these people are known as “Members”.

More information about the Members can be found on the pages dedicated to them (Members of the Court of Justice and Members of the General Court), and on the pages about each of the two courts (Court of Justice and General Court).

Staff

The Court currently employs just over 2 300 members of staff.

Most of these staff are EU civil servants, chosen through a rigorous selection procedure. The Court has members of staff from every EU Member State.

Around half of the Court’s staff work in the Directorate-General for Multilingualism, dedicated to ensuring that the Court’s work is available in all 24 official EU languages.

To find out more about the work of the Court’s staff, visit our pages dedicated to each of the Court’s departments.

To find out more about how you could apply to work at the Court, visit our jobs pages.

How the Court works

In addition to key EU values, such as freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, the Court places particular importance on certain core values that shape and underpin all aspects of its work.

The Court requires the highest ethical standards – integrity, professionalism, impartiality and independence – from everyone that works there. These standards apply to all Members of the Court and its staff.

Read more about the Court’s ethical standards.

Transparency and accessibility in both the judicial and administrative processes at the Court is fundamental to the way we work.

Learn more about transparency at the Court.

In particular, Court judgments and other case-related documents are published on this website as quickly as possible. In addition, all hearings are public, and the most important are streamed on this website.

For further details, see our page on the information available about each case.

The Court works in 24 different languages. No other Court in the world does this. Multilingualism is at the heart of the Court’s work. This ensures that anyone involved in a case can communicate with the Court in any of the EU’s official languages and that everyone in the EU can read and understand the judgments.

Explore our dedicated multilingualism website.

Read our multilingualism policy.

The Court is committed to continuous innovation as part of its broader mission to adapt, improve and serve the EU and its citizens in a changing world.  

• The Court is an active participant in the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), which helps the Court evaluate and improve its sustainability practices and environmental performance.
  • Find out more about the Court’s environmental policy.
• The Court’s IT Directorate plays a key role in modernising the institution by setting and implementing a dynamic IT vision and strategy. The Court has also adopted its own AI Strategy.
  • Read more about the Directorate for Information Technologies.

As a multilingual and multinational institution, diversity lies at the very heart of the Court. The Court is also committed to promoting equal opportunities and an inclusive working environment for people of all nationalities, genders, abilities and backgrounds.

               For more information, visit our page on employment at the Court.

Court of Justice of the EU, Court of Justice, General Court, CJEU, ECJ – confused by the names?

There are several names associated with the Court of Justice of the EU.

Part of the possible confusion stems from the fact that the overall institution and one of the two courts that it comprises have almost the same name.

The overall institution is correctly called the Court of Justice of the European Union, sometimes abbreviated to CJEU.

This comprises two different courts:

• the Court of Justice
• the General Court

And the European Court of Justice or ECJ?

The Court has never officially been called the European Court of Justice or ECJ.

When the Court was created, it was the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community. From 1957 to 2009, it was the Court of Justice of the European Communities. In 2009, its name changed to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

However, European Court of Justice is a common way to refer to the higher of the two courts. It is widely recognised and used in English. We even use the hashtag #ECJ ourselves on social media.

Court of Justice of the EU and the European Court of Human Rights

The Court of Justice of the European Union is different from the European Court of Human Rights. While the Court of Justice of the EU is based in Luxembourg and is an EU institution, the Court of Human Rights is based in Strasbourg in France and is part of the Council of Europe.

The Court of Human Rights hears cases brought against countries who have signed the European Convention on Human Rights. Its jurisdiction currently covers 46 countries, including the 27 EU Member States.