number 1 - Centre d'études et de recherches européennes Robert ...

114
Christian Pennera
The Powers of the Court of Justice in the ECSC Treaty
Article 31 of the ECSC Treaty expresses the Court's overall mandate –,the form of
words employed has remained more or less unchanged to this day –,as follows:
"The Court shall ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty, and
of rules laid down for the implementation thereof, the law is observed".
First and foremost the Court has to check the legality of the High Authority's
decisions and recommendations, whether immediate or with delayed effect. The
Court does this by declaring a decision or recommendation null and void, under
Articles 33 and 34. Review is likewise available in cases where the High Authority,
called upon to act and to take a decision for which the Treaty rendered it responsible,
fails to do so within a reasonable period of time, under Article 35.
Annulment may be asked for by the Member States, the Council of Ministers or
third parties amenable to the Court's jurisdiction, namely undertakings and associations
of undertakings concerned by binding acts adopted by the High Authority.
Action of this kind is a perfect illustration of what French law terms "recours
pour excès de pouvoir" (action for excess of power). This action is possible whenever
the High Authority exceeds its powers or acts in a field not covered by the
Treaty, infringes an essential procedural requirement, such as the conditions laying
down the proper majority, violates a provision clearly stated in the Treaty or legal
measures implementing the Treaty.
Annulment may also be invoked where there is a misuse of powers, that is to
say if the Authority, while acting within the limits of its competence, was nevertheless
pursuing an aim which had nothing to do with the case in point. An important
detail here is that this argument, or more precisely this ground of annulment, is the
only one at the disposal of undertakings and associations of undertakings.
An act of the Council or the Assembly may also be declared null and void on
application by a Member State or the High Authority, under Article 38.
In exercising its power to declare something null and void –,a typical prerogative
of continental administrative courts –,the Court becomes the watchdog of private
individuals affected by what the public administration, in this case the High
Authority, is doing. However, it is also a regulatory body for the respective powers
of the protagonists in the internal decision-making process.
Whenever the High Authority imposes fines, an appeal may be brought under
Article 36 ; and whenever it causes injury to a third party, either directly or via its
departments, the party concerned may ask for reparation under Article 40. The
Court then decides in its own discretion and in effect substitutes its assessment for
that of the authority at fault. French law calls this "recours de pleine juridiction"
where the Court has unlimited jurisdiction.
Over and beyond these two major functions the ECSC Court has another. It may
be asked, through the good offices of a national judge, to interpret a decision by the
High Authority. Under the Treaty of Rome, the action for interpretation was to
become the Court's major weapon for integration. Although known in French legal
terminology, it is peculiar to legal systems with a federal structure and can be