1.   Before taking up his duties, a Judge shall at the first public sitting of the Court which he attends after his appointment take the following oath:

2.   Immediately after taking the oath, a Judge shall sign a declaration by which he solemnly undertakes that, both during and after his term of office, he will respect the obligations arising therefrom, and in particular the duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after he has ceased to hold office, of certain appointments and benefits.

1.   The Judges shall, immediately after the partial replacement provided for in Article 253 TFEU, elect one of their number as President of the Court for a term of three years.

2.   If the office of the President of the Court falls vacant before the normal date of expiry thereof, the Court shall elect a successor for the remainder of the term.

3.   The elections provided for in this Article shall be by secret ballot. The Judge obtaining the votes of more than half the Judges composing the Court shall be elected. If no Judge obtains that majority, further ballots shall be held until that majority is attained.

1.   The Court shall set up Chambers of five and three Judges in accordance with Article 16 of the Statute and shall decide which Judges shall be attached to them.

The Court shall designate the Chamber or Chambers of five Judges which, for a period of one year, shall be responsible for cases of the kind referred to in Article 104b.

The composition of the Chambers and the designation of the Chamber or Chambers responsible for cases of the kind referred to in Article 104b shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2.   As soon as an application initiating proceedings has been lodged, the President shall designate a Judge to act as Rapporteur.

For cases of the kind referred to in Article 104b, the Judge-Rapporteur shall be selected from among the Judges of the Chamber designated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, on a proposal from the President of that Chamber. If the Chamber decides that the case is not to be dealt with under the urgent procedure, the President of the Court may reassign the case to a Judge-Rapporteur attached to another Chamber.

The President of the Court shall take the necessary steps if a Judge-Rapporteur is absent or prevented from acting.

3.   For cases assigned to a formation of the Court in accordance with Article 44(3), the word ‘Court’ in these Rules shall mean that formation.

4.   In cases assigned to a Chamber of five or three Judges, the powers of the President of the Court shall be exercised by the President of the Chamber.

1.   The Judges shall, immediately after the election of the President of the Court, elect the Presidents of the Chambers of five Judges for a term of three years.

The Judges shall elect the Presidents of the Chambers of three Judges for a term of one year.

The Court shall appoint for a period of one year the First Advocate General.

The provisions of Article 7(2) and (3) shall apply.

The elections and appointment made in pursuance of this paragraph shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2.   The First Advocate General shall assign each case to an Advocate General as soon as the Judge-Rapporteur has been designated by the President. He shall take the necessary steps if an Advocate General is absent or prevented from acting.

1.   For each case the Grand Chamber shall be composed of the President of the Court, the Presidents of the Chambers of five Judges, the Judge-Rapporteur and the number of Judges necessary to reach 13. The last-mentioned Judges shall be designated from the list referred to in paragraph 2, following the order laid down therein. The starting-point on that list, in every case assigned to the Grand Chamber, shall be the name of the Judge immediately following the last Judge designated from the list for the preceding case assigned to that formation of the Court.

2.   After the election of the President of the Court and of the Presidents of the Chambers of five Judges, a list of the other Judges shall be drawn up for the purposes of determining the composition of the Grand Chamber. That list shall follow the order laid down in Article 6 of these Rules, alternating with the reverse order: the first Judge on that list shall be the first according to the order laid down in that Article, the second Judge shall be the last according to that order, the third Judge shall be the second according to that order, the fourth Judge the penultimate according to that order, and so on.

The list shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

3.   In cases which are assigned to the Grand Chamber between the beginning of a year in which there is a partial replacement of Judges and the moment when that replacement has taken place, two substitute Judges shall also sit. Those substitute Judges shall be the two Judges appearing in the list referred to in the previous paragraph immediately after the last Judge designated for the composition of the Grand Chamber in the case.

The substitute Judges shall replace, in the order of the list referred to in the previous paragraph, such Judges as are unable to take part in the decision on the case.

1.   The Chambers of five Judges and three Judges shall, for each case, be composed of the President of the Chamber, the Judge-Rapporteur and the number of Judges required to attain the number of five and three Judges respectively. Those last-mentioned Judges shall be designated from the lists referred to in paragraph 2 and following the order laid down in them. The starting-point in those lists, for every case assigned to a Chamber, shall be the name of the Judge immediately following the last Judge designated from the list for the preceding case assigned to the Chamber concerned.

2.   For the composition of the Chambers of five Judges, after the election of the Presidents of those Chambers lists shall be drawn up including all the Judges attached to the Chamber concerned, with the exception of its President. The lists shall be drawn up in the same way as the list referred to in Article 11b(2).

For the composition of the Chambers of three Judges, after the election of the Presidents of those Chambers lists shall be drawn up including all the Judges attached to the Chamber concerned, with the exception of its President. The lists shall be drawn up according to the order laid down in Article 6 of these Rules.

The lists referred to in this paragraph shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   Where the Court considers that several cases must be heard and determined together by one and the same formation of the Court, the composition of that formation shall be that fixed for the case in respect of which the preliminary report was first examined.

2.   Where a Chamber to which a case has been assigned refers the case back to the Court under Article 44(4), in order that it may be reassigned to a formation composed of a greater number of Judges, that formation shall include the members of the Chamber which has referred the case back.

1.   Where the Court is of the opinion that the consideration of and preparatory inquiries in cases before it so require, it shall, pursuant to Article 13 of the Statute, propose the appointment of Assistant Rapporteurs.

2.   Assistant Rapporteurs shall in particular:

3.   In the performance of their duties the Assistant Rapporteurs shall be responsible to the President of the Court, the President of a Chamber or a Judge-Rapporteur, as the case may be.

4.   Before taking up his duties, an Assistant Rapporteur shall take before the Court the oath set out in Article 3 of these Rules.

1.   The dates and times of the sittings of the Grand Chamber and of the full Court shall be fixed by the President.

2.   The dates and times of the sittings of the Chambers of five and three Judges shall be fixed by their respective Presidents.

3.   The Court may choose to hold one or more sittings in a place other than that in which the Court has its seat.

1.   Where, by reason of a Judge being absent or prevented from attending, there is an even number of Judges, the most junior Judge within the meaning of Article 6 of these Rules shall abstain from taking part in the deliberations unless he is the Judge-Rapporteur. In that case the Judge immediately senior to him shall abstain from taking part in the deliberations.

2.   If after the Grand Chamber or full Court has been convened it is found that the quorum referred to in the third or fourth paragraph of Article 17 of the Statute has not been attained, the President shall adjourn the sitting until there is a quorum.

3.   If in any Chamber of five or three Judges the quorum referred to in the second paragraph of Article 17 of the Statute has not been attained and it is not possible to replace the Judges prevented from attending in accordance with Article 11e, the President of that Chamber shall so inform the President of the Court who shall designate another Judge to complete the Chamber.

1.   The Court shall deliberate in closed session.

2.   Only those Judges who were present at the oral proceedings and the Assistant Rapporteur, if any, entrusted with the consideration of the case may take part in the deliberations.

3.   Every Judge taking part in the deliberations shall state his opinion and the reasons for it.

4.   Any Judge may require that any questions be formulated in the language of his choice and communicated in writing to the Court before being put to the vote.

5.   The conclusions reached by the majority of the Judges after final discussion shall determine the decision of the Court. Votes shall be cast in reverse order to the order of precedence laid down in Article 6 of these Rules.

6.   Differences of view on the substance, wording or order of questions or on the interpretation of the voting shall be settled by decision of the Court.

7.   Where the deliberations of the Court concern questions of its own administration, the Advocates General shall take part and have a vote. The Registrar shall be present, unless the Court decides to the contrary.

8.   Where the Court sits without the Registrar being present it shall, if necessary, instruct the most junior Judge within the meaning of Article 6 of these Rules to draw up minutes. The minutes shall be signed by that Judge and by the President.

1.   Subject to any special decision of the Court, its vacations shall be as follows:

During the vacations, the functions of President shall be exercised at the place where the Court has its seat either by the President himself, keeping in touch with the Registrar, or by a President of Chamber or other Judge invited by the President to take his place.

2.   In a case of urgency, the President may convene the Judges and the Advocates General during the vacations.

3.   The Court shall observe the official holidays of the place where it has its seat.

4.   The Court may, in proper circumstances, grant leave of absence to any Judge or Advocate General.

1.   The language of a case shall be Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish or Swedish.

2.   The language of a case shall be chosen by the applicant, except that:

In cases to which Article 103 of these Rules applies, the language of the case shall be the language of the national court or tribunal which refers the matter to the Court. At the duly substantiated request of one of the parties to the main proceedings, and after the opposite party and the Advocate General have been heard, the use of another of the languages mentioned in paragraph 1 may be authorised for the oral procedure.

Requests as above may be decided on by the President; the latter may, and where he wishes to accede to a request without the agreement of all the parties, must, refer the request to the Court.

3.   The language of the case shall in particular be used in the written and oral pleadings of the parties and in supporting documents, and also in the minutes and decisions of the Court.

Any supporting documents expressed in another language must be accompanied by a translation into the language of the case.

In the case of lengthy documents, translations may be confined to extracts. However, the Court may, of its own motion or at the request of a party, at any time call for a complete or fuller translation.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, a Member State shall be entitled to use its official language when intervening in a case before the Court or when taking part in any reference of a kind mentioned in Article 103. This provision shall apply both to written statements and to oral addresses. The Registrar shall cause any such statement or address to be translated into the language of the case.

The States, other than the Member States, which are parties to the EEA Agreement, and also the EFTA Surveillance Authority, may be authorised to use one of the languages mentioned in paragraph 1, other than the language of the case, when they intervene in a case before the Court or participate in preliminary ruling proceedings envisaged by Article 23 of the Statute. This provision shall apply both to written statements and oral addresses. The Registrar shall cause any such statement or address to be translated into the language of the case.

Non-member States taking part in proceedings for a preliminary ruling pursuant to the fourth paragraph of Article 23 of the Statute may be authorised to use one of the languages mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article other than the language of the case. This provision shall apply both to written statements and to oral statements. The Registrar shall cause any such statement or address to be translated into the language of the case.

4.   Where a witness or expert states that he is unable adequately to express himself in one of the languages referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, the Court may authorise him to give his evidence in another language. The Registrar shall arrange for translation into the language of the case.

5.   The President of the Court and the Presidents of Chambers in conducting oral proceedings, the Judge-Rapporteur both in his preliminary report and in his report for the hearing, Judges and Advocates General in putting questions and Advocates General in delivering their opinions may use one of the languages referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article other than the language of the case. The Registrar shall arrange for translation into the language of the case.

1.   The Registrar shall, at the request of any Judge, of the Advocate General or of a party, arrange for anything said or written in the course of the proceedings before the Court to be translated into the languages he chooses from those referred to in Article 29(1).

2.   Publications of the Court shall be issued in the languages referred to in Article 1 of Council Regulation No 1.

1.   Agents, advisers and lawyers appearing before the Court or before any judicial authority to which the Court has addressed letters rogatory, shall enjoy immunity in respect of words spoken or written by them concerning the case or the parties.

2.   Agents, advisers and lawyers shall enjoy the following further privileges and facilities:

1.   If the Court considers that the conduct of an adviser or lawyer towards the Court, a Judge, an Advocate General or the Registrar is incompatible with the dignity of the Court or with the requirements of the proper administration of justice, or that such adviser or lawyer is using his rights for purposes other than those for which they were granted, it shall inform the person concerned. If the Court informs the competent authorities to whom the person concerned is answerable, a copy of the letter sent to those authorities shall be forwarded to the person concerned.

On the same grounds, the Court may at any time, having heard the person concerned and the Advocate General, exclude the person concerned from the proceedings by order. That order shall have immediate effect.

2.   Where an adviser or lawyer is excluded from the proceedings, the proceedings shall be suspended for a period fixed by the President in order to allow the party concerned to appoint another adviser or lawyer.

3.   Decisions taken under this Article may be rescinded.

1.   The original of every pleading must be signed by the party's agent or lawyer.

The original, accompanied by all annexes referred to therein, shall be lodged together with five copies for the Court and a copy for every other party to the proceedings. Copies shall be certified by the party lodging them.

2.   Institutions shall in addition produce, within time-limits laid down by the Court, translations of all pleadings into the other languages provided for by Article 1 of Council Regulation No 1. The second subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall apply.

3.   All pleadings shall bear a date. In the reckoning of time-limits for taking steps in proceedings, only the date of lodgment at the Registry shall be taken into account.

4.   To every pleading there shall be annexed a file containing the documents relied on in support of it, together with a schedule listing them.

5.   Where in view of the length of a document only extracts from it are annexed to the pleading, the whole document or a full copy of it shall be lodged at the Registry.

6.   Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5, the date on which a copy of the signed original of a pleading, including the schedule of documents referred to in paragraph 4, is received at the Registry by telefax or other technical means of communication available to the Court shall be deemed to be the date of lodgment for the purposes of compliance with the time-limits for taking steps in proceedings, provided that the signed original of the pleading, accompanied by the annexes and copies referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 above, is lodged at the Registry no later than 10 days thereafter. Article 81(2) shall not be applicable to this period of 10 days.

7.   Without prejudice to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 or to paragraphs 2 to 5, the Court may by decision determine the criteria for a procedural document sent to the Registry by electronic means to be deemed to be the original of that document. That decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   An application of the kind referred to in Article 21 of the Statute shall state:

2.   For the purpose of the proceedings, the application shall state an address for service in the place where the Court has its seat and the name of the person who is authorised and has expressed willingness to accept service.

In addition to, or instead of, specifying an address for service as referred to in the first subparagraph, the application may state that the lawyer or agent agrees that service is to be effected on him by telefax or other technical means of communication.

If the application does not comply with the requirements referred to in the first and second subparagraphs, all service on the party concerned for the purpose of the proceedings shall be effected, for so long as the defect has not been cured, by registered letter addressed to the agent or lawyer of that party. By way of derogation from Article 79(1), service shall then be deemed to be duly effected by the lodging of the registered letter at the post office of the place where the Court has its seat.

3.   The lawyer acting for a party must lodge at the Registry a certificate that he is authorised to practise before a court of a Member State or of another State which is a party to the EEA Agreement.

4.   The application shall be accompanied, where appropriate, by the documents specified in the second paragraph of Article 21 of the Statute.

5.   An application made by a legal person governed by private law shall be accompanied by:

6.   An application submitted under Article 273 TFEU shall be accompanied by a copy of the special agreement concluded between the Member States concerned.

7.   If an application does not comply with the requirements set out in paragraphs 3 to 6 of this Article, the Registrar shall prescribe a reasonable period within which the applicant is to comply with them whether by putting the application itself in order or by producing any of the abovementioned documents. If the applicant fails to put the application in order or to produce the required documents within the time prescribed, the Court shall, after hearing the Advocate General, decide whether the non-compliance with these conditions renders the application formally inadmissible.

1.   Within one month after service on him of the application, the defendant shall lodge a defence, stating:

The provisions of Article 38(2) to (5) of these Rules shall apply to the defence.

2.   The time-limit laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article may be extended by the President on a reasoned application by the defendant.

1.   The application initiating the proceedings and the defence may be supplemented by a reply from the applicant and by a rejoinder from the defendant.

2.   The President shall fix the time-limits within which these pleadings are to be lodged.

1.   In reply or rejoinder a party may offer further evidence. The party must, however, give reasons for the delay in offering it.

2.   No new plea in law may be introduced in the course of proceedings unless it is based on matters of law or of fact which come to light in the course of the procedure.

If in the course of the procedure one of the parties puts forward a new plea in law which is so based, the President may, even after the expiry of the normal procedural time-limits, acting on a report of the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, allow the other party time to answer on that plea.

The decision on the admissibility of the plea shall be reserved for the final judgment.

1.   The President shall fix a date on which the Judge-Rapporteur is to present his preliminary report to the general meeting of the Court, either:

2.   The preliminary report shall contain recommendations as to whether a preparatory inquiry or any other preparatory step should be undertaken and as to the formation to which the case should be assigned. It shall also contain the Judge-Rapporteur's recommendation, if any, as to whether to dispense with a hearing as provided for in Article 44a and as to whether to dispense with an Opinion of the Advocate General pursuant to the fifth subparagraph of Article 20 of the Statute.

The Court shall decide, after hearing the Advocate General, what action to take upon the recommendations of the Judge-Rapporteur.

3.   The Court shall assign to the Chambers of five and three Judges any case brought before it in so far as the difficulty or importance of the case or particular circumstances are not such as to require that it should be assigned to the Grand Chamber.

However, a case may not be assigned to a Chamber of five or three Judges if a Member State or an institution of the Union, being a party to the proceedings, has requested that the case be decided by the Grand Chamber. For the purposes of this provision, ‘party to the proceedings’ means any Member State or any institution which is a party to or an intervener in the proceedings or which has submitted written observations in any reference of a kind mentioned in Article 103. A request such as that referred to in this subparagraph may not be made in proceedings between the Union and its servants.

The Court shall sit as a full Court where cases are brought before it pursuant to the provisions referred to in the fourth paragraph of Article 16 of the Statute. It may assign a case to the full Court where, in accordance with the fifth paragraph of Article 16 of the Statute, it considers that the case is of exceptional importance.

4.   The formation to which a case has been assigned may, at any stage of the proceedings, refer the case back to the Court in order that it may be reassigned to a formation composed of a greater number of Judges.

5.   Where a preparatory inquiry has been opened, the formation determining the case may, if it does not undertake it itself, assign the inquiry to the Judge-Rapporteur.

Where the oral procedure is opened without an inquiry, the President of the formation determining the case shall fix the opening date.

1.   Subject to the priority of decisions provided for in Article 85 of these Rules, the Court shall deal with the cases before it in the order in which the preparatory inquiries in them have been completed. Where the preparatory inquiries in several cases are completed simultaneously, the order in which they are to be dealt with shall be determined by the dates of entry in the register of the applications initiating them respectively.

2.   The President may in special circumstances order that a case be given priority over others.

The President may in special circumstances, after hearing the parties and the Advocate General, either on his own initiative or at the request of one of the parties, defer a case to be dealt with at a later date. On a joint application by the parties the President may order that a case be deferred.

1.   The proceedings shall be opened and directed by the President, who shall be responsible for the proper conduct of the hearing.

2.   The oral proceedings in cases heard in camera shall not be published.

1.   The Advocate General shall deliver his opinion orally at the end of the oral procedure.

2.   After the Advocate General has delivered his opinion, the President shall declare the oral procedure closed.

1.   The Registrar shall draw up minutes of every hearing. The minutes shall be signed by the President and by the Registrar and shall constitute an official record.

2.   The parties may inspect the minutes at the Registry and obtain copies at their own expense.

1.   On application by the applicant or the defendant, the President may exceptionally decide, on the basis of a recommendation by the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the other party and the Advocate General, that a case is to be determined pursuant to an expedited procedure derogating from the provisions of these Rules, where the particular urgency of the case requires the Court to give its ruling with the minimum of delay.

An application for a case to be decided under an expedited procedure shall be made by a separate document lodged at the same time as the application initiating the proceedings or the defence, as the case may be.

2.   Under the expedited procedure, the originating application and the defence may be supplemented by a reply and a rejoinder only if the President considers this to be necessary.

An intervener may lodge a statement in intervention only if the President considers this to be necessary.

3.   Once the defence has been lodged or, if the decision to adjudicate under an expedited procedure is not made until after that pleading has been lodged, once that decision has been taken, the President shall fix a date for the hearing, which shall be communicated forthwith to the parties. He may postpone the date of the hearing where the organisation of measures of inquiry or of other preparatory measures so requires.

Without prejudice to Article 42, the parties may supplement their arguments and offer further evidence in the course of the oral procedure. They must, however, give reasons for the delay in offering such further evidence.

4.   The Court shall give its ruling after hearing the Advocate General.

1.   The judgment shall be delivered in open court; the parties shall be given notice to attend to hear it.

2.   The original of the judgment, signed by the President, by the Judges who took part in the deliberations and by the Registrar, shall be sealed and deposited at the Registry; the parties shall be served with certified copies of the judgment.

3.   The Registrar shall record on the original of the judgment the date on which it was delivered.

1.   Without prejudice to the provisions relating to the interpretation of judgments the Court may, of its own motion or on application by a party made within two weeks after the delivery of a judgment, rectify clerical mistakes, errors in calculation and obvious slips in it.

2.   The parties, whom the Registrar shall duly notify, may lodge written observations within a period prescribed by the President.

3.   The Court shall take its decision in closed session after hearing the Advocate General.

4.   The original of the rectification order shall be annexed to the original of the rectified judgment. A note of this order shall be made in the margin of the original of the rectified judgment.

1.   A decision as to costs shall be given in the final judgment or in the order which closes the proceedings.

2.   The unsuccessful party shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party's pleadings.

Where there are several unsuccessful parties the Court shall decide how the costs are to be shared.

3.   Where each party succeeds on some and fails on other heads, or where the circumstances are exceptional, the Court may order that the costs be shared or that the parties bear their own costs.

The Court may order a party, even if successful, to pay costs which the Court considers that party to have unreasonably or vexatiously caused the opposite party to incur.

4.   The Member States and institutions which intervene in the proceedings shall bear their own costs.

The States, other than the Member States, which are parties to the EEA Agreement, and also the EFTA Surveillance Authority, shall bear their own costs if they intervene in the proceedings.

The Court may order an intervener other than those mentioned in the preceding subparagraphs to bear his own costs.

5.   A party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings shall be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the other party's observations on the discontinuance. However, upon application by the party who discontinues or withdraws from proceedings, the costs shall be borne by the other party if this appears justified by the conduct of that party.

Where the parties have come to an agreement on costs, the decision as to costs shall be in accordance with that agreement.

If costs are not claimed, the parties shall bear their own costs.

6.   Where a case does not proceed to judgment the costs shall be in the discretion of the Court.

1.   If there is a dispute concerning the costs to be recovered, the formation of the Court to which the case has been referred shall, on application by the party concerned and after hearing the opposite party and the Advocate General, make an order.

2.   The parties may, for the purposes of enforcement, apply for an authenticated copy of the order.

1.   Sums due from the cashier of the Court and from its debtors shall be paid in euro.

2.   Where costs to be recovered have been incurred in a currency other than the euro or where the steps in respect of which payment is due were taken in a country of which the euro is not the currency, conversions of currency shall be made at the European Central Bank's official rates of exchange on the day of payment.

1.   A party who is wholly or in part unable to meet the costs of the proceedings may at any time apply for legal aid.

The application shall be accompanied by evidence of the applicant's need of assistance, and in particular by a document from the competent authority certifying his lack of means.

2.   If the application is made prior to proceedings which the applicant wishes to commence, it shall briefly state the subject of such proceedings.

The application need not be made through a lawyer.

3.   The President shall designate a Judge to act as Rapporteur. The Court, on the Judge-Rapporteur's proposal and after hearing the Advocate General, shall refer the application to a formation of the Court which shall decide whether legal aid should be granted in full or in part, or whether it should be refused. That formation shall consider whether there is manifestly no cause of action.

The formation of the Court shall give its decision by way of order. Where the application for legal aid is refused in whole or in part, the order shall state the reasons for that refusal.

4.   The formation of the Court may at any time, either of its own motion or on application, withdraw legal aid if the circumstances which led to its being granted alter during the proceedings.

5.   Where legal aid is granted, the cashier of the Court shall advance the funds necessary to meet the expenses.

In its decision as to costs the Court may order the payment to the cashier of the Court of the whole or any part of amounts advanced as legal aid.

The Registrar shall take steps to obtain the recovery of these sums from the party ordered to pay them.

1.   Where these Rules require that a document be served on a person, the Registrar shall ensure that service is effected at that person's address for service either by the dispatch of a copy of the document by registered post with a form for acknowledgement of receipt or by personal delivery of the copy against a receipt.

The Registrar shall prepare and certify the copies of documents to be served, save where the parties themselves supply the copies in accordance with Article 37(1) of these Rules.

2.   Where, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 38(2), the addressee has agreed that service is to be effected on him by telefax or other technical means of communication, any procedural document other than a judgment or order of the Court may be served by the transmission of a copy of the document by such means.

Where, for technical reasons or on account of the nature or length of the document, such transmission is impossible or impracticable, the document shall be served, if the addressee has failed to state an address for service, at his address in accordance with the procedures laid down in paragraph 1 of this article. The addressee shall be so advised by telefax or other technical means of communication. Service shall then be deemed to have been effected on the addressee by registered post on the 10th day following the lodging of the registered letter at the post office of the place where the Court has its seat, unless it is shown by the acknowledgement of receipt that the letter was received on a different date or the addressee informs the Registrar, within three weeks of being advised by telefax or other technical means of communication, that the document to be served has not reached him.

1.   Any period of time prescribed by the Treaties, the Statute or these Rules for the taking of any procedural step shall be reckoned as follows:

2.   If the period would otherwise end on a Saturday, Sunday or an official holiday, it shall be extended until the end of the first following working day.

A list of official holidays drawn up by the Court shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

1.   Where the period of time allowed for initiating proceedings against a measure adopted by an institution runs from the publication of that measure, that period shall be calculated, for the purposes of Article 80(1)(a), from the end of the 14th day after publication thereof in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2.   The prescribed time-limits shall be extended on account of distance by a single period of 10 days.

1.   The proceedings may be stayed:

The proceedings may be resumed by order or decision, following the same procedure.

The orders or decisions referred to in this paragraph shall be served on the parties.

2.   The stay of proceedings shall take effect on the date indicated in the order or decision of stay or, in the absence of such indication, on the date of that order or decision.

While proceedings are stayed time shall cease to run for the purposes of prescribed time-limits for all parties.

3.   Where the order or decision of stay does not fix the length of stay, it shall end on the date indicated in the order or decision of resumption or, in the absence of such indication, on the date of the order or decision of resumption.

From the date of resumption time shall begin to run afresh for the purposes of the time-limits.

1.   An application to suspend the operation of any measure adopted by an institution, made pursuant to Article 278 TFEU or Article 157 TEAEC, shall be admissible only if the applicant is challenging that measure in proceedings before the Court.

An application for the adoption of any other interim measure referred to in Article 279 TFEU shall be admissible only if it is made by a party to a case before the Court and relates to that case.

2.   An application of a kind referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall state the subject-matter of the proceedings, the circumstances giving rise to urgency and the pleas of fact and law establishing a prima facie case for the interim measures applied for.

3.   The application shall be made by a separate document and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 37 and 38 of these Rules.

1.   The application shall be served on the opposite party, and the President shall prescribe a short period within which that party may submit written or oral observations.

2.   The President may order a preparatory inquiry.

The President may grant the application even before the observations of the opposite party have been submitted. This decision may be varied or cancelled even without any application being made by any party.

1.   The decision on the application shall take the form of a reasoned order, from which no appeal shall lie. The order shall be served on the parties forthwith.

2.   The enforcement of the order may be made conditional on the lodging by the applicant of security, of an amount and nature to be fixed in the light of the circumstances.

3.   Unless the order fixes the date on which the interim measure is to lapse, the measure shall lapse when final judgment is delivered.

4.   The order shall have only an interim effect, and shall be without prejudice to the decision of the Court on the substance of the case.

1.   An application of a kind referred to in the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 81 TEAEC shall contain:

2.   The President shall give his decision in the form of an order. Article 86 of these Rules shall apply.

If the President is absent or prevented from attending, Article 11 of these Rules shall apply.

1.   A party applying to the Court for a decision on a preliminary objection or other preliminary plea not going to the substance of the case shall make the application by a separate document.

The application must state the pleas of fact and law relied on and the form of order sought by the applicant; any supporting documents must be annexed to it.

2.   As soon as the application has been lodged, the President shall prescribe a period within which the opposite party may lodge a document containing a statement of the form of order sought by that party and its pleas in law.

3.   Unless the Court decides otherwise, the remainder of the proceedings shall be oral.

4.   The Court shall, after hearing the Advocate General, decide on the application or reserve its decision for the final judgment.

If the Court refuses the application or reserves its decision, the President shall prescribe new time-limits for the further steps in the proceedings.

1.   Where it is clear that the Court has no jurisdiction to take cognisance of an action or where the action is manifestly inadmissible, the Court may, by reasoned order, after hearing the Advocate General and without taking further steps in the proceedings, give a decision on the action.

2.   The Court may at any time of its own motion, after hearing the parties, decide whether there exists any absolute bar to proceeding with a case or declare that the action has become devoid of purpose and that there is no need to adjudicate on it; it shall give its decision in accordance with Article 91(3) and (4) of these Rules.

1.   An application to intervene must be made within six weeks of the publication of the notice referred to in Article 16(6) of these Rules.

The application shall contain:

The intervener shall be represented in accordance with Article 19 of the Statute.

Articles 37 and 38 of these Rules shall apply.

2.   The application shall be served on the parties.

The President shall give the parties an opportunity to submit their written or oral observations before deciding on the application.

The President shall decide on the application by order or shall refer the application to the Court.

3.   If the President allows the intervention, the intervener shall receive a copy of every document served on the parties. The President may, however, on application by one of the parties, omit secret or confidential documents.

4.   The intervener must accept the case as he finds it at the time of his intervention.

5.   The President shall prescribe a period within which the intervener may submit a statement in intervention.

The statement in intervention shall contain:

6.   After the statement in intervention has been lodged, the President shall, where necessary, prescribe a time-limit within which the parties may reply to that statement.

7.   Consideration may be given to an application to intervene which is made after the expiry of the period prescribed in paragraph 1 but before the decision to open the oral procedure provided for in Article 44(3). In that event, if the President allows the intervention, the intervener may submit his observations during the oral procedure, if that procedure takes place.

1.   If a defendant on whom an application initiating proceedings has been duly served fails to lodge a defence to the application in the proper form within the time prescribed, the applicant may apply for judgment by default.

The application shall be served on the defendant. The Court may decide to open the oral procedure on the application.

2.   Before giving judgment by default the Court shall, after hearing the Advocate General, consider whether the application initiating proceedings is admissible, whether the appropriate formalities have been complied with, and whether the application appears well founded. The Court may order a preparatory inquiry.

3.   A judgment by default shall be enforceable. The Court may, however, grant a stay of execution until the Court has given its decision on any application under paragraph 4 to set aside the judgment, or it may make execution subject to the provision of security of an amount and nature to be fixed in the light of the circumstances; this security shall be released if no such application is made or if the application fails.

4.   Application may be made to set aside a judgment by default.

The application to set aside the judgment must be made within one month from the date of service of the judgment and must be lodged in the form prescribed by Articles 37 and 38 of these Rules.

5.   After the application has been served, the President shall prescribe a period within which the other party may submit his written observations.

The proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with Article 44 et seq. of these Rules.

6.   The Court shall decide by way of a judgment which may not be set aside.

The original of this judgment shall be annexed to the original of the judgment by default. A note of the judgment on the application to set aside shall be made in the margin of the original of the judgment by default.

1.   An application initiating an appeal under the second paragraph of Article 18 TEAEC shall state:

2.   Articles 37(3) and (4) and 38(2), (3) and (5) of these Rules shall apply.

A certified copy of the contested decision shall be annexed to the application.

3.   As soon as the application has been lodged, the Registrar of the Court shall request the arbitration committee registry to transmit to the Court the papers in the case.

4.   Articles 39, 40 and 55 et seq. of these Rules shall apply to these proceedings.

5.   The Court shall give its decision in the form of a judgment. Where the Court sets aside the decision of the arbitration committee it may refer the case back to the committee.

1.   An application for interpretation of a judgment shall be made in accordance with Articles 37 and 38 of these Rules. In addition it shall specify:

The application must be made against all the parties to the case in which the judgment was given.

2.   The Court shall give its decision in the form of a judgment after having given the parties an opportunity to submit their observations and after hearing the Advocate General.

The original of the interpreting judgment shall be annexed to the original of the judgment interpreted. A note of the interpreting judgment shall be made in the margin of the original of the judgment interpreted.

1.   In cases governed by Article 23 of the Statute, the procedure shall be governed by the provisions of these Rules, subject to adaptations necessitated by the nature of the reference for a preliminary ruling.

2.   The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to the references for a preliminary ruling provided for in the Protocol concerning the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the Convention of 29 February 1968 on the mutual recognition of companies and legal persons and the Protocol concerning the interpretation by the Court of Justice of the Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, signed at Luxembourg on 3 June 1971, and to the references provided for by Article 4 of the latter Protocol.

The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply also to references for interpretation provided for by other existing or future agreements.

1.   The decisions of national courts or tribunals referred to in Article 103 shall be communicated to the Member States in the original version, accompanied by a translation into the official language of the State to which they are addressed. Where appropriate on account of the length of the national court's decision, such translation shall be replaced by the translation into the official language of the State to which it is addressed of a summary of the decision, which will serve as a basis for the position to be adopted by that State. The summary shall include the full text of the question or questions referred for a preliminary ruling. That summary shall contain, in particular, in so far as that information appears in the national court's decision, the subject-matter of the main proceedings, the essential arguments of the parties in the main proceedings, a succinct presentation of the reasoning in the reference for a preliminary ruling and the case-law and the provisions of European Union and domestic law relied on.

In the cases governed by the third paragraph of Article 23 of the Statute, the decisions of national courts or tribunals shall be notified to the States, other than the Member States, which are parties to the EEA Agreement and also to the EFTA Surveillance Authority in the original version, accompanied by a translation of the decision, or where appropriate of a summary, into one of the languages mentioned in Article 29(1), to be chosen by the addressee of the notification.

Where a non-Member State has the right to take part in proceedings for a preliminary ruling pursuant to the fourth paragraph of Article 23 of the Statute, the original version of the decision of the national court or tribunal shall be communicated to it together with a translation of the decision, or where appropriate of a summary, into one of the languages mentioned in Article 29(1), to be chosen by the non-Member State concerned.

2.   As regards the representation and attendance of the parties to the main proceedings in the preliminary ruling procedure the Court shall take account of the rules of procedure of the national court or tribunal which made the reference.

3.   Where a question referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling is identical to a question on which the Court has already ruled, or where the answer to such a question may be clearly deduced from existing case-law, the Court may, after hearing the Advocate General, at any time give its decision by reasoned order in which reference is made to its previous judgment or to the relevant case-law.

The Court may also give its decision by reasoned order, after informing the court or tribunal which referred the question to it, hearing any observations submitted by the persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute and after hearing the Advocate General, where the answer to the question referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling admits of no reasonable doubt.

4.   Without prejudice to paragraph (3) of this Article, the procedure before the Court in the case of a reference for a preliminary ruling shall also include an oral part. However, after the statements of case or written observations referred to Article 23 of the Statute have been submitted, the Court, acting on a report from the Judge-Rapporteur, after informing the persons who under the aforementioned provisions are entitled to submit such statements or observations, may, after hearing the Advocate General, decide otherwise, provided that none of those persons has submitted an application setting out the reasons for which he wishes to be heard. The application shall be submitted within a period of three weeks from service on the party or person of the written statements of case or written observations which have been lodged. That period may be extended by the President.

5.   The Court may, after hearing the Advocate General, request clarification from the national court.

6.   It shall be for the national court or tribunal to decide as to the costs of the reference.

In special circumstances the Court may grant, by way of legal aid, assistance for the purpose of facilitating the representation or attendance of a party.

1.   A reference for a preliminary ruling which raises one or more questions in the areas covered by Title V of Part Three of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union may, at the request of the national court or tribunal or, exceptionally, of the Court's own motion, be dealt with under an urgent procedure which derogates from the provisions of these Rules.

The national court or tribunal shall set out, in its request, the matters of fact and law which establish the urgency and justify the application of that exceptional procedure and shall, in so far as possible, indicate the answer it proposes to the questions referred.

If the national court or tribunal has not submitted a request for the urgent procedure to be applied, the President of the Court may, if the application of that procedure appears, prima facie, to be required, ask the Chamber referred to below to consider whether it is necessary to deal with the reference under that procedure.

The decision to deal with a reference for a preliminary ruling under the urgent procedure shall be taken by the designated Chamber, acting on a report of the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General. The composition of that Chamber shall be determined in accordance with Article 11c on the day on which the case is assigned to the Judge-Rapporteur if the application of the urgent procedure is requested by the national court or tribunal, or, if the application of that procedure is considered at the request of the President of the Court, on the day on which that request is made.

2.   A reference for a preliminary ruling of the kind referred to in the preceding paragraph shall, where the national court or tribunal has requested the application of the urgent procedure or where the President has requested the designated Chamber to consider whether it is necessary to deal with the reference under that procedure, be notified forthwith by the Registrar to the parties to the action before the national court or tribunal, to the Member State from which the reference is made and to the institutions referred to in the first paragraph of Article 23 of the Statute, in accordance with that provision.

The decision as to whether or not to deal with the reference for a preliminary ruling under the urgent procedure shall be notified forthwith to the national court or tribunal and to the parties, Member State and institutions referred to in the preceding subparagraph. The decision to deal with the reference under the urgent procedure shall prescribe the period within which those parties or entities may lodge statements of case or written observations. The decision may specify the matters of law to which such statements of case or written observations must relate and may specify the maximum length of those documents.

As soon as the notification referred to in the first subparagraph above has been made, the reference for a preliminary ruling shall also be communicated to the interested persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute, other than the persons notified, and the decision whether or not to deal with the reference for a preliminary ruling under the urgent procedure shall be communicated to those interested persons as soon as the notification referred to in the second subparagraph has been made.

The parties and other interested persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute shall be informed as soon as may be possible of the foreseeable date of the hearing.

Where the reference is not to be dealt with under the urgent procedure, the proceedings shall continue in accordance with the provisions of Article 23 of the Statute and the applicable provisions of these Rules.

3.   A reference for a preliminary ruling which is to be dealt with under an urgent procedure, together with the statements of case or written observations which have been lodged, shall be served on the persons referred to in Article 23 of the Statute other than the parties and the entities referred to in the first subparagraph of the preceding paragraph of this Article. The reference for a preliminary ruling shall be accompanied by a translation, where appropriate in summary form, in accordance with Article 104(1).

The statements of case or written observations which have been lodged shall also be served on the parties and the other persons referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 104b(2).

The date of the hearing shall be notified to the parties and those other persons at the same time as the documents referred to in the preceding paragraphs are served.

4.   The Chamber may, in cases of extreme urgency, decide to omit the written part of the procedure referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article.

5.   The designated Chamber shall rule after hearing the Advocate General.

It may decide to sit in a formation of three Judges. In that event, it shall be composed of the President of the designated Chamber, the Judge-Rapporteur and the first Judge or, as the case may be, the first two Judges designated from the list referred to in Article 11c(2) on the date on which the composition of the designated Chamber is determined in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article.

It may also decide to refer the case back to the Court in order for it to be assigned to a formation composed of a greater number of Judges. The urgent procedure shall continue before the new formation, where necessary after the reopening of the oral procedure.

6.   The procedural documents referred to in this Article shall be deemed to have been lodged on the transmission to the Registry, by telefax or other technical means of communication available to the Court, of a copy of the signed original and the documents relied on in support of it, together with the schedule referred to in Article 37(4). The original of the document and the annexes referred to above shall be sent to the Registry.

Where this Article requires that a document be notified to or served on a person, such notification or service may be effected by the transmission of a copy of the document by telefax or other technical means of communication available to the Court and the addressee.

1.   Four certified copies shall be lodged of an application under the third paragraph of Article 103 TEAEC. The European Commission shall be served with a copy.

2.   The application shall be accompanied by the draft of the agreement or contract in question, by the observations of the European Commission addressed to the State concerned and by all other supporting documents.

The European Commission shall submit its observations to the Court within a period of 10 days, which may be extended by the President after the State concerned has been heard.

A certified copy of the observations shall be served on that State.

3.   As soon as the application has been lodged the President shall designate a Judge to act as Rapporteur. The First Advocate General shall assign the case to an Advocate General as soon as the Judge-Rapporteur has been designated.

4.   The decision shall be taken in closed session after the Advocate General has been heard.

The agents and advisers of the State concerned and of the European Commission shall be heard if they so request.

1.   In cases provided for in the last paragraph of Article 104 TEAEC and the last paragraph of Article 105 TEAEC, the provisions of Article 37 et seq. of these Rules shall apply.

2.   The application shall be served on the State to which the respondent person or undertaking belongs.

1.   A request by the European Parliament for an opinion pursuant to Article 218 TFEU shall be served on the Council, on the European Commission and on the Member States. Such a request by the Council shall be served on the European Commission and on the European Parliament. Such a request by the European Commission shall be served on the Council, on the European Parliament and on the Member States. Such a request by a Member State shall be served on the Council, on the European Commission, on the European Parliament and on the other Member States.

The President shall prescribe a period within which the institutions and Member States which have been served with a request may submit their written observations.

2.   The Opinion may deal not only with the question whether the envisaged agreement is compatible which the provisions of the Treaties but also with the question whether the Union or any Union institution has the power to enter into that agreement.

1.   As soon as the request for an Opinion has been lodged, the President shall designate a Judge to act as Rapporteur.

2.   The Court sitting in closed session shall, after hearing the Advocates General, deliver a reasoned Opinion.

3.   The Opinion, signed by the President, by the Judges who took part in the deliberations and by the Registrar, shall be served on the Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Member States.

1.   In the case of disputes between Member States as referred to in Article 35(7) TEU in the version in force before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, as maintained in force by Protocol No 36 annexed to the Treaties, the matter shall be brought before the Court by an application by a party to the dispute. The application shall be served on the other Member States and on the European Commission.

In the case of disputes between Member States and the European Commission as referred to in Article 35(7) TEU in the version in force before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, as maintained in force by Protocol No 36 annexed to the Treaties, the matter shall be brought before the Court by an application by a party to the dispute. The application shall be served on the other Member States, the Council and the European Commission if it was made by a Member State. The application shall be served on the Member States and on the Council if it was made by the European Commission.

The President shall prescribe a time-limit within which the institutions and the Member States on which the application has been served are to submit their written observations.

2.   As soon as the application referred to in paragraph 1 has been submitted, the President shall designate the Judge-Rapporteur. The First Advocate General shall thereupon assign the application to an Advocate General.

3.   The Court shall, after the Advocate General has delivered his Opinion, give its ruling on the dispute by way of judgment.

The procedure relating to the application shall include an oral part where a Member State or one of the institutions referred to in paragraph 1 so requests.

4.   The same procedure shall apply where an agreement concluded between the Member States confers jurisdiction on the Court to rule on a dispute between Member States or between Member States and an institution.