Keywords
Summary

Keywords

Procedure - Application initiating proceedings - Requirements as to form - Subject-matter of the dispute to be indicated - Pleas in law relied upon to be briefly stated

(EC Statute of the Court of Justice, Art. 19, first para., and Art. 46, first para.; Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Art. 44(1)(c) and (d))

Summary

$$Under the first paragraph of Article 19 of the Statute of the Court of Justice, applicable to proceedings before the Court of First Instance by virtue of the first paragraph of Article 46 of the same statute, and under Article 44(1)(c) and (d) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, the application must contain, amongst other things, the subject-matter of the dispute, the forms of order sought and a brief statement of the pleas in law. Irrespective of any question of terminology, the particulars must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare the defence, and the Court of First Instance to rule on the application without having to request further information, as the case may be. In order to guarantee legal certainty and sound administration of justice it is necessary, for an action to be admissible, that the basic matters of law and fact relied on be indicated, at least in summary form, coherently and intelligibly in the application itself.

( see paras 18-19 )