Multilingualism in proceedings
The Court's multilingualism system is based on the determination, for each case, of a language of the case. In almost all types of proceedings (preliminary ruling proceedings, direct actions, appeals), it is the language in which the document initiating the proceedings is drafted (i.e. the request for a preliminary ruling, the application or the appeal) that determines the language of the case. The only exception is the Opinion procedure, in which all the official languages are languages of the case.
Any of the official languages of the European Union can therefore be the language of the case. In preliminary ruling proceedings, for example, the document initiating proceedings (or its summary) is translated into all of the official languages. Multilingualism is then applied throughout the proceedings (the written stage, followed by the oral stage), not in full (except in Opinion procedures), but according to the language of the case, the status and linguistic proficiency of the participants in the proceedings and the members of the formation (a subdivision of one of the courts making up the Court of Justice of the European Union, when it rules on a case brought before it).
During the written stage, the pleadings exchanged are, in principle, drafted in the language of the case. Member States intervene in their official language or in one of their official languages and their written submissions are then translated into the language of the case by the Court’s services. In all cases, the pleadings are translated into the language of deliberation, which is currently French, so that the Court can take cognisance of them.
At the oral stage, i.e. during hearings, the same principle applies: the language in which the hearing is held is the language of the case. However, the hearing brings together participants (parties, judges, Advocate General, representatives of the Member States, etc.) with different native languages. Interpretation is therefore necessary. Interpretation is always provided from and into the language of the case, the language of deliberation and the language of the Member States that have notified their intention to participate in the hearing. Interpretation may also be provided from and into the language of one or more of the judges hearing the case. The determination of the languages from and into which interpretation is provided at the hearing is therefore based on very practical considerations. Only the Opinion procedure involves interpretation from and into all languages.
A large number of cases brought before the Court involve an Advocate General, who delivers his or her opinion on a case for the benefit of the formation of the Court hearing the case. In practice, these opinions are drafted and then read out in open court in one of the six languages most widely covered by the Court’s services. They are translated into all the official languages and published with the decision in the European Court Reports.
The deliberation stage is normally conducted in a single language, currently French, after which the final decision is signed in the language of the case by the judges sitting in the formation. It is translated into all the official languages as part of the multilingual dissemination of case-law.
