The Court of Justice of the European Union constitutes the judicial authority of the European Union. Its mission is to ensure uniform interpretation and application of European law. To achieve that mission, the Court gives binding interpretations of European Union law at the request of national courts, in the form of a preliminary ruling.
Preliminary rulings are binding on the national court that submitted the preliminary question. The national court will then have to issue a ruling in the national proceedings, taking into account the judgment of the Court. All other courts in the Union will also have to adopt the interpretation of the EU Court.
The cases the Court has to decide concern not only the parties involved, but every citizen of the European Union. Moreover, its decisions deal with complex and fundamental issues, such as the patentability of human embryo’s, the legality of monetary policy decisions of the European Central Bank or the privacy of European Facebook users. In addition to their binding effect, the preliminary rulings of the Court have a retroactive effect. This means that the interpretation of a provision of EU law given by the Court applies from the date that law came into effect.
A sound adjudication of such complex and/or high impact cases requires the Court to consider all available knowledge and perspectives, the balancing of all interests at stake and a well informed assessment of the implications of its decision for third parties and society at large.
To help the Court reach the best informed decision, we set up this platform on which you, as Friend of the Court, can share with the Court your knowledge, perspective or interests in a particular case, in the form of an Amicus Curiae Brief. You can find a list of requests for a preliminary ruling currently pending before the Court here, with the possibility to leave your brief.
