On Wednesday 28 October 2015, Luxembourg Minister of Justice Félix Braz intervened in the European Parliament on the reform of the statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which will see the number of judges of the General Court double over the next four years.
During its plenary session, the European Parliament voted in favour of an extensive reform of the statute of the Court of Justice, involving doubling the number of judges of the General Court in 3 steps by 2019.
The vote endorses a compromise text which is a result of informal meetings between the representatives of the four institutions, these being the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the European Commissions and the Court of Justice. The compromise was approved by the Permanenet Representatives Committee (Coreper), on behalf of the Council of the European Union on 21 October 2015.
Declared one of the priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency, four years of negotiations of the reform took place prior to the European Parliament's vote.
The reform will aim to provide a sustainable and long-term solution to the current challenges faced by the General Court of the Union and enables it to fulfil its functions within the time limits and the quality standards which European citizens and companies are entitled to expect in a Union based on the rule of law.
The reform has been deemed critical in order to face the General Court's workload which has been steadily increasing over the past several years, as well as to decrease the duration of procedures and thereby alleviate the risks of the European Unio being condemned for violation of the obligation to adjudicate within a reasonable time.
"The reform of the statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union goes together with the strengthening of an institution which has endlessly driven the European construction," commented Justice Minister Félix Braz.
Photo by Wikimedia
