Case T-253/03

Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and Akcros Chemicals Ltd

v

Commission of the European Communities

(Intervention – Dismissal – Entity devoid of legal personality – Non-representative association – Association which does not have as its object the protection of its members’ interests – Absence of individual interest of its members)

Order of the Court of First Instance (Fifth Chamber), 28 May 2004. 

Summary of the Order

1.     Procedure – Intervention – Interested parties – Application for leave to intervene from an entity devoid of legal personality – Conditions

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 40, second para., and 53, first para.)

2.     Procedure – Intervention – Interested parties – Representative association the object of which is to protect the interests of its members – Admissibility in cases raising questions of principle liable to affect those members

(Statute of the Court of Justice, Arts 40, second para., and 53, first para.)

1.     Under the second paragraph of Article 40 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, which is applicable to the Court of First Instance pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 53 of that statute, the right to intervene in cases before the Court is open not only to the Member States and the institutions of the Community but also to any person establishing an interest in the result of the case.

Although bodies which have no legal personality may be granted leave to intervene, they must nevertheless satisfy the basic requirements for such personality, in particular the ability, however restricted, to undertake autonomous action and to assume liability.

An unincorporated association of in-house lawyers employed by leading companies established in Europe which has no legal personality, constituted by a mere informal decision of its founders, without a constitution, and constituting merely a forum for exchanging information and practical experiences and for discussing matters of interest to its members, does not satisfy the minimum requirements for basic legal personality of legal persons.

(see paras 16-19)

2.     Under the second paragraph of Article 40 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, which is applicable to the Court of First Instance pursuant to the first paragraph of Article 53 of that statute, the right to intervene in cases before the Court is open to representative associations the object of which is to protect their members in cases raising questions of principle liable to affect those members. More specifically, an association may be granted leave to intervene if it represents an appreciable number of undertakings active in the sector concerned; if its objects include that of protecting its members’ interests; if the case may raise questions of principle affecting the functioning of the sector concerned; and if the interests of its members may therefore be affected to an appreciable extent by the forthcoming judgment.

An association composed of only 25 members cannot be regarded as representing a sufficiently large number of professionals active in a sector such as in-house lawyers. Moreover, since the association has no constitution, it is impossible to establish whether its object is indeed to ensure that its members’ interests are protected.

The members of an association who are not directly affected by the specific measure whose annulment is sought in the case before the Court of First Instance, since that measure does not directly concern the companies that they represent, do not have a direct and existing interest in the ruling on the contested measure but rather have a simple interest in the pleas raised.

(see paras 21-23)