Role and Composition of the European Count of Justice Essay

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European Union (EU) is a political and economic community of 27 member states, located in Europe. The European Union was established in 1993 by the treaty of Maastricht. Initially, there existed European Community. A few areas of policies were improved before the community reverted to a union.

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The European Union came up with a single market through standardized laws applying to all member states. This guarantees freedom of movement of people, goods, capital, and services (EU single market, fewer barriers, more opportunities, 2007). EU maintains policy a common trade policy as well as regional development. The common currency (Euro) has been adopted by 15 countries so far. The EU has also abolished the use of passports in member state countries. This provision was signed under the Schengen Agreement (Abolition of Internal borders and creation of a single EU: Europa (2005).

In its effective decision-making, the EU has several institutions to help in achieving its goals and objectives. These institutions are the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European council, and the European Central Bank. EU parliamentarians are elected after every five years.

The European Union which came into being as a result of the Maastricht treaty established a revised structure and the name European community formed three pillars of the new European Union that included cooperation in matters of foreign policy and home affairs. Eventually, the term European Community was abolished and European Union (EU) coined. The Lisbon treaty abolished the name as well as the pillar system.

With the entry of Austria, Sweden, and Finland in 1995, the Amsterdam treaty in 1997 amended the Maastricht treaty in areas such as democracy and foreign policy. The treaty of Nice followed in 2001. This treaty revised the Rome and Maastricht treaties to allow the EU to cope with enlargement to the East.

In 2004, ten new countries joined the European Union. Most of these countries formed the Eastern Bloc. Three years, two more countries joined the Union. Further, 2004 was a significant year in the history of the European, Union. It is at this time that a treaty establishing the constitution for the EU was signed in Rome. However, voters in Dutch and France rejected the proposal voted at the referendum.

The main objective of its formation was to harmonize the operation and activities of the European countries. It was felt that there was a need to remove unnecessary barriers for the European people in terms of trade, movement, etc. Thus, the formation of the EU has endeavored to achieve this objective by bringing into, operation a uniform currency system (EURO) even though it has not been adopted by all member states. There is also wide cooperation in foreign affairs issues as well as home affairs issues. Today Europe has its delegation in most countries of the world. The education system has also been provided befitting all European Union students irrespective of their countries of origin. Every European Union citizen is free to proceed for further education within the union without many difficulties.

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Another aspect that led to the development and formation of the EU was the need to have a regional institution that can settle any dispute arising between European countries. Instead of seeking redress of the international court of Justice at The Hague. In this regard European court of justice under the EU was established to arbitrate matters arising from member states.

Also needed was a body that could legislate laws binding member states. Laws vary from one country to another. In this sense, universal legislation was required to help in making laws to govern these member states. The European Parliament came into being. The house makes laws and is interpreted by the European court of justices.

The court of justice of the European communities often referred to as the European court of justice was set up under the ECSC treaty in 1952. The court is based in Luxembourg. The role of the court is to ensure that EU legislation is interpreted and applied in the same way in all EU countries so that the law is equal to everyone. Where the court finds that a member state has failed to fulfill an obligation under the treaties, it may impose a fine or penalty payments if the member state does not comply with the judgment. The ECJ reviews the legality of measures taken by the institution. It gives preliminary rulings, on application by a national court, on the interpretation or validity of points of community law. The court has the power to settle legal disputes between EU member states, EU institutions, businesses, and individuals.

The ECJ is composed of one judge per member state. This is for all the 27 countries of EU’s national legal systems are represented. For its efficiency, the court rarely sits as the full court. It sits as a Grand Chamber of just 13 judges or in chambers of five or three judges.

The court has 8 Advocates General. Their role is to present resourced opinions on the cases brought before the court they do so publicly and impartially. The advocates – general and judges possess qualifications or competencies required for appointment to the highest judicial position in their home countries. They are appointed to the ECJ by joint agreement between governments of the EU member states. Each is appointed for a term of six years, renewable.

The ECJ is assisted by a court of the First instance which was created in 1989. This court is responsible for giving rulings on certain kinds of cases, particularly actions brought by private individuals, companies, and some organizations as well as cases relating to competition law.

The court of Justice and Court of First Instance each have a president chosen by their fellow judges to serve for a three-year term renewable. Currently, the president of ECJ is Vassilios Skouris, from Greece elected in 2003. Bo Versterdorf from Denmark is the president of the court of the first instance.

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Bibliography

Dinan, Desmond. Encyclopaedia of the European Union. Boulder: Lynne Reinner Publishers, 1998.

Jacobs, Francis, et al. The European Parliament. London: Cartermill Publications, 1995.

Westlake, Martin, the Council of the European Union. Rev. ed. London: John Harper, 1999.

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IvyPanda. (2021) 'Role and Composition of the European Count of Justice'. 6 October.

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IvyPanda. 2021. "Role and Composition of the European Count of Justice." October 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/role-and-composition-of-the-european-count-of-justice/.

1. IvyPanda. "Role and Composition of the European Count of Justice." October 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/role-and-composition-of-the-european-count-of-justice/.


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IvyPanda. "Role and Composition of the European Count of Justice." October 6, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/role-and-composition-of-the-european-count-of-justice/.

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