Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Preliminary rulings — Jurisdiction of the Court — Limits — Contrived dispute or request for interpretation of provisions of Community law inapplicable in the main proceedings — (EC Treaty, Art. 177)

2. Environment — Conservation of wild birds — Directive 79/409 — Implementation by the Member States — Conditions for granting derogations from the prohibitions laid down in the directive — (Council Directive 79/409, Arts 5, 7 and 9)

Summary

1. Pursuant to the division of judicial functions between national courts and the Court of Justice provided for by Article 177 of the Treaty, the Court gives preliminary rulings where the questions referred concern the interpretation of a provision of Community law without, in principle, having to look into the circumstances in which the national courts were prompted to submit questions and envisage applying the provision of Community law which they have asked the Court to interpret.

The matter would be different only if it were apparent either that the procedure provided for in Article 177 had been misused and was in fact being used to have the Court give a ruling when there was no genuine dispute or that the provision of Community law referred to the Court for interpretation was manifestly incapable of applying.

2. Article 9(1) of Directive 79/409 on the conservation of wild birds, which provides for the possibility for the Member States to derogate from the general prohibition on hunting protected species laid down in Articles 5 and 7 of the directive where there is no other satisfactory solution and for one of the reasons listed exhaustively therein, and Article 9(2), which defines the precise formal conditions for such derogations, must be interpreted as authorizing the Member States to grant those derogations only by measures which refer in sufficient detail to the factors mentioned in Article 9(1) and (2).

In a sphere in which the management of the common heritage is entrusted to the Member States in their respective territories, faithful transposition of directives becomes particularly important.