Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Appeals ° Pleas in law ° Erroneous assessment of the facts ° Inadmissibility ° Appeal dismissed

(Statute of the Court of Justice of the EEC, Art. 51)

2. Appeals ° Pleas in law ° Mere repetition of the pleas in law and arguments before the Court of First Instance ° Inadmissibility ° Appeal dismissed

(Statute of the Court of Justice of the EEC, Arts 49 and 51; Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice, Art. 112(1)(c))

Summary

1. By virtue of Article 51 of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EEC, an appeal against a decision of the Court of First Instance is to be limited to points of law and lies on grounds of lack of competence of the Court of First Instance, a breach of procedure before it which adversely affects the interest of the appellant or the infringement of Community law by the Court of First Instance. A plea in law which restricts itself to contesting the findings of fact made by the Court of First Instance is therefore inadmissible.

2. The combined effects of Article 51 of the Statute of the Court of Justice and Article 112(1)(c) of the Rules of Procedure is that an appeal must indicate precisely the contested elements of the judgment of the Court of First Instance which it is requested to have set aside, and also the legal arguments which specifically support that request.

That requirement is not satisfied by an appeal which merely repeats or reproduces word for word the arguments previously submitted to the Court of First Instance, including those based on facts expressly rejected by that court; in reality, such an appeal amounts to no more than a request for a reexamination of the application submitted to the Court of First Instance, a matter which falls outside the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice by virtue of Article 49 of its Statute.