In the early 1950s, six European states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, France and the Federal Republic of Germany) agreed to create the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1957, the same six countries formed the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community. These organizations later gave rise to the European Union, which today brings together twenty-seven countries of the old continent.
The European Coal and Steel Community already had a judicial authority in its institutional structure, which was called upon to interpret and apply Community law and to rule on relevant legal issues. The Court of Justice of the European Union is therefore the direct successor of an institution which began its work in 1952.
The Court of Justice marked its 70th anniversary with Judicial Forum, this time entitled " Bringing Justice Closer to the Citizen". A meeting of representatives of the EU judiciary (supranational and national) opened on Sunday 4 December with a screening of the documentary on the Court of Justice, specially made for its 70th anniversary. Monday 5 December was devoted entirely to a conference focusing on three topics: 1. the preliminary ruling procedure - recent developments, 2. the concept of judicial independence in EU law, and 3. the General Court and conflicts in Europe: recent developments in the field of restrictive measures against Belarus and Russia. In addition, three parallel seminars were held in the afternoon, focusing on the following questions: a) How can judicial decisions be made more ‘readable’?, b) In the era of the GDPR, by what name should one refer to judicial decisions?, and c) How should courts communicate what they do?. This year's jubilee Judicial Forum concluded on Tuesday (6 December) with a formal session which was attended by HRH Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic was represented in Luxembourg by its President, Mr Pavel Rychetský.
Pavel Dvořák
Head of External Relations and Protocol Department
© Court of Justice of the European Union