A New Derogation to the Admissibility of an Application in Staff Cases: The Cerafogli Judgment

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2016 1(3), 1301-1304 | European Forum Highlight of 5 January 2017 | (Abstract) On 27 October 2016, the Extended Composition of the Appeal Chamber of the GC rendered the judgment in ECB v. Cerafogli. The judgment is particularly important because the GC intervenes again on the conditions of admissibility of staff cases. With this judgment, the GC confirmed a new exception to the rule of correspondence between the complaint and the application, holding that this rule must not be applied to a plea of illegality, which may then be raised for the first time before the EU judges. The GC's reasoning is based on the nature of the plea of illegality. The division of jurisdiction between the judges and the administration means that only the judges have the power to come to a finding of illegality of an act and, thus, the rule of correspondence, which is founded on the need to guarantee the aim of the pre-litigation procedure, which is the amicable settlement of disputes, would be worthless.

Keywords

• eu staff
• pre-litigation procedure
• admissibility
• plea of illegality
• rule of correspondence
• amicable settlement