Rules of Procedure of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal

The European Union Civil Service Tribunal rules on disputes between the EU bodies and their staff on matters such as social security (sickness, invalidity, etc.) or working relations (pay, etc.). The Rules of Procedure lay down the organisation of the Tribunal and the conduct of legal proceedings.

ACT

Rules of Procedure of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Official Journal L 206, 14.7.2014, pp. 1-45).

SUMMARY

The European Union Civil Service Tribunal rules on disputes between the EU bodies and their staff on matters such as social security (sickness, invalidity, etc.) or working relations (pay, etc.). The Rules of Procedure lay down the organisation of the Tribunal and the conduct of legal proceedings.

WHAT DO THESE RULES OF PROCEDURE DO?

The EU Civil Service Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure follow the recasting of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice in 2012. They also take into account the need to supplement or clarify certain rules in light of experience gained over time.

KEY POINTS

Composition

The Tribunal comprises seven judges, appointed by the Council for a renewable 6-year period. The judges elect one of their number as president, whose role is to direct the judicial business and ensure the proper functioning of the Tribunal. The judges are assisted by a registrar.

Formation

The Tribunal can sit in full court, in a chamber of five judges, chambers of three judges or as a single judge. In most cases it sits in chambers of three judges, except when the difficulty of the questions of law raised or the importance of the case or special circumstances so justify. Here, cases may be referred to the full court or to the chamber of five judges.

Where the questions of law or fact raised are not considered to be complex, a chamber of three judges can unanimously decide to refer a case to a single judge.

Procedure

Proceedings brought before the Tribunal have a written part and an oral part.

During the written part, the applicant must initiate proceedings by lodging an application with the registrar of the Tribunal. The application is then served on the opposing party, which has 2 months to submit a defence. The oral part of the procedure allows the judges to question the parties’ representatives.

More detailed rules are contained in two documents: ‘Instructions to the registrar of the EU Civil Service Tribunal’ and ‘Practice directions to parties on judicial proceedings before the EU Civil Service Tribunal’.

Evidence and anonymity

The Tribunal takes into consideration only the evidence which has been made available to the agents or lawyers of the parties and on which they have been given an opportunity to express their views.

Its decisions are published on the Internet. However, the Tribunal may decide to omit the name of the applicant and, if necessary, other information from its publications if there are legitimate reasons for that anonymity.

Amicable settlement of disputes

At any stage of the procedure the Tribunal may encourage and assist the parties to seek an amicable settlement of the dispute.

Costs

Normally, the unsuccessful party bears his/her own costs and is ordered to pay the costs incurred by the other party if they have been applied for in the other party’s pleadings.

To avoid abuse of process, the Tribunal may require an applicant who has already made a number of applications that have been found to be a manifest abuse of process to pay a deposit of up to €8 000 to cover the costs.

Legal aid

Proceedings before the Tribunal are free of charge. However, the costs of lawyers must be paid by the parties. If a party is unable to meet these costs, he/she may apply to receive legal aid. Applications must be accompanied by all the necessary information required to establish that the applicant requires assistance.

Appeals

The judgments and orders of the Civil Service Tribunal may be the subject of an appeal before the General Court.

WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

The new Rules of Procedure apply from 1 October 2014. They replace the rules adopted on 25 July 2007, as last amended on 18 May 2011.

RELATED ACTS

Instructions to the registrar of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Official Journal L 206, 14.7.2014, pp. 46-51).

Practice directions to parties on judicial proceedings before the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (Official Journal L 206, 14.7.2014, pp. 52-75).

See also the checklists published on the Curia website under ‘Civil Service Tribunal - Procedure’, for example ‘Checklist: Application’.

last update 08.12.2014