Registry of the Court of Justice

What is the Registry of the Court of Justice and what are its tasks?

The Registry of the Court of Justice has 3 main tasks:

• To communicate with parties and their representatives and with the Judges and Advocates General in cases brought before the Court of Justice
• To ensure the smooth functioning of proceedings and maintain case files
• To provide active legal and technical assistance to the Members of the Court of Justice and their staff

The Registry of the Court of Justice plays a central role in ensuring that proceedings before the Court of Justice run smoothly and that case files are properly managed. It acts as the point of contact between the parties’ representatives, national judges, the Court’s administrative services, and the Chambers of the Members of the Court of Justice, in particular the President’s Chambers. Throughout the judicial process, the Registry also provides active support to the Members and their teams.

The Registry keeps the official register of procedural documents and manages case files for proceedings before the Court of Justice. It handles the receipt, transmission and storage of documents in accordance with the Statute and the Rules of Procedure, while maintaining correspondence with parties and third parties involved in pending cases. The Registry oversees the publication of the Court’s decisions and other materials, ensuring that all case files are properly archived.

Working closely with the chambers of the Members, in particular the President’s chambers, and other administrative services, the Registry organises the Court’s hearings. A representative of the Registry is present at each hearing to deal with any procedural issues and draft the minutes. They are also present during the delivery of opinions and judgments. The Registry also deals with requests for the translation of procedural documents into the language of deliberation and the language of the procedure, and carries out all the notifications that are necessary throughout the procedure.

The Registrar is ultimately responsible for the work of the Registry. However, given the Registrar’s wide-ranging duties as Secretary-General of the institution, the day-to-day running of the Registry is delegated to the Deputy Registrar, who is supported by two heads of unit. Together they lead a staff of around 50 people. Different sections, each supervised by a language administrator, handle the case files in each of the 24 official EU languages. A dedicated team looks after the IT systems, archives and statistics.

Among its technical responsibilities, the Registry

• maintains the electronic storage system for procedural documents
• manages and updates procedural databases
• oversees the e-Curia application, which enables the secure electronic exchange of procedural documents between the Court and parties
• produces judicial statistics

The Registry also supports the Committee on the Statute and Rules of Procedure of the Court. It contributes to the drafting and updating of procedural texts, as well as coordinating their translation and publication. Furthermore, Registry officials also take part in discussions with the Council’s “Court of Justice” working group and, when necessary, in meetings of the European Parliament – in particular when proposals to amend the Statute are being considered.

Contacting the Registry of the Court of Justice

In the context of pending cases, the Registry can be contacted using the means mentioned on the page Lodging documents at the Court of Justice.

Requests concerning data protection in the context of closed cases can be addressed to the Court via post or email:

Registry of the Court of Justice
Rue du Fort Niedergrünewald
L-2925 Luxembourg

ECJ.Registry@curia.europa.eu

If you have questions about whether your case can be heard by the Court, please see Can I bring my case to the Court.

For any other questions please use our Contact form to get in touch with the Court.