General Court prepares for influx of judges amid reports of artificially inflated caseload

The legislation provides initially for 12 new judges to be appointed to the General Court, and subsequently for seven more to join it as a result of the merging of posts at the present Civil Service Tribunal, bringing the number of members of the General Court to 47 on 1 September 2016. The final stage will entail the appointment of nine additional judges in 2019.

The news comes as a report this week by a judge of the court argued that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) abused its own rules in order to double the number of judges.

To prepare for the influx of 19 new judges, the General Court has adopted a series of measures to “ensure that litigants are afforded a judicial review at first instance that is swift, thorough and consistent”.

The court will comprise nine Chambers of five judges, with each Chamber being able to sit in two formations of three judges presided over by the president of the Chamber of five judges.

The new structure will take effect in September. In the meantime, the 12 new judges will be integrated into the current structure as a transitional measure.

Finally, according to the proposed regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transfer to the General Court of jurisdiction at first instance in disputes between the EU and its civil servants as from 1 September 2016 (currently being examined by the legislature), the General Court will deal with all civil service cases transferred from the Civil Service Tribunal to the General Court as it finds them at that date, and they will be subject to a right of appeal to the Court of Justice.