Interpretation Directorate

The Statute of the Court of Justice and the Rules of Procedure set strict language rules based on the concept of the “language of the case”.

The language of the case is one of the 24 official EU languages and is determined when the case is lodged at the Court. In references for a preliminary ruling, the language is that of the Court referring questions; in direct actions, the language is usually that of the applicant. The parties to the case then use that language in all communication with the Court and in any hearing that takes place. Any EU Member State intervening or submitting observations can use its own language. During hearings, the Judges and Advocates General can ask questions in their own language.

As a result, simultaneous interpretation is necessary at public hearings.

The Interpretation Directorate provides interpretation for hearings at the Court of Justice and the General Court. It has around 70 permanent interpreters and makes use of experienced freelance interpreters on a regular basis.

Teams of interpreters are put together based on

• the language of the case
• the languages of the Member States involved
• the needs of the Judges and Advocates General
• the needs of any visiting groups

The number of languages used varies from hearing to hearing.

The role of an interpreter is different from that of a lawyer-linguist. Instead of translating written texts word-for-word, interpreters accurately convey a spoken message from one language in another. They work in real time to ensure smooth communication between the speaker and the listener during hearings before the EU Courts.

For more information on the work of the Interpretation Directorate, see our page on Advice to counsel appearing before the Court and our dedicated website on Multilingualism.

To contact the Court’s Interpretation Directorate, you can email interpretation@curia.europa.eu.