Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Procedure – Application initiating proceedings – Formal requirements

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 21, second para., 24 and 53, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Arts 44(6) and 64)

2. Acts of the institutions – General obligation to inform the addressees of measures of the judicial remedies available and of the time-limits – None

Summary

1. Neither Article 64 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance nor Article 24 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, also applicable to the Court of First Instance pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 53 of that Statute, nor any other provision of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance and of the Statute of the Court of Justice, place any obligation on the Court of First Instance to advise the party lodging an action that his application is inadmissible when it has not been signed by a lawyer authorised to appear before the Community courts.

While it is true that the Statute of the Court of Justice and the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance provide for the possibility of rectifying an application which does not comply with certain procedural requirements, it is also true that, on any view of the matter, non-compliance with the mandatory condition of representation by a lawyer authorised to practise before a court of a Member State or of another State which is a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area is not one of the requirements which can be rectified after expiry of the time-limit for bringing an action, in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 21 of the Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 44(6) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.

(see paras 25-26)

2. The Community institutions are not subject to any general obligation to inform the persons to whom their measures are addressed of the judicial remedies available or to any obligation to state the time-limits applicable to them.

(see para. 41)