11957E165

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Article 165

The Court of Justice shall consist of nine Judges . (*)

The Court of Justice shall sit in plenary session . It may , however , form Chambers , each consisting of three or five Judges , either to undertake certain preparatory inquiries or to adjudicate on particular categories of cases in accordance with rules laid down for these purposes .

Whenever the Court of Justice hears cases brought before it by a Member State or by one of the institutions of the Community or , to the extent that the Chambers of the Court do not have the requisite jurisdiction under the Rules of Procedure , has to give preliminary rulings on questions submitted to it pursuant to Article 177 , it shall sit in plenary session . (**)

Should the Court of Justice so request , the Council may , acting unanimously , increase the number of Judges and make the necessary adjustments to the second and third paragraphs of this Article and to the second paragraph of Article 167 .

(*) First paragraph as amended by Article 17 of the Act of Accession , modified by Article 9 of the Adaptation Decision .

(**) Third paragraph as amended by Article 1 of the Council Decision of 26 November 1974 ( Official Journal of the European Communities , No L 318 , 28 November 1974 , p . 22 ) .