Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Preliminary rulings ° Reference to the Court ° National court' s jurisdiction not exhausted ° Nothing to prevent the national court from finding that the case has been terminated after one of the parties to the main proceedings has acceded to the claims of the other ° Jurisdiction of the Court subject to the national court' s finding that that acquiescence has no effect under national law

(EC Treaty, Art. 177)

Summary

Under Article 177 of the Treaty, a national court which has made a reference for a preliminary ruling is not justified in refusing to accept the acquiescence by one party to the claims of the other, to hold that the case has been terminated and to withdraw the questions referred for a preliminary ruling, on the grounds that the case is no longer pending before the court itself but has been referred to the Court of Justice, and that the questions are of such importance that they go beyond the dispute between the parties in so far as the interpretation which the Court will give will have general scope.

First, the national court which has referred a question to the Court for a preliminary ruling remains seised of the case. The procedure before that court is suspended until the Court of Justice has delivered its ruling on the reference, but the case itself is still pending before the national court. Secondly, the justification for a preliminary reference, and hence for the jurisdiction of the Court, is not that it enables advisory opinions on general or hypothetical questions to be delivered, but rather that it is necessary for the effective resolution of a dispute.

Accordingly, Community law does not preclude a court which has made a preliminary reference from finding that in national law the claims have been acceded to and, where appropriate, that the main proceedings are thereby terminated. As long as the court which made the reference has not found that in national law the fact that the claims have been acceded to has not so terminated the proceedings, the Court has no jurisdiction to give a ruling on the questions referred to it.