Case Law
The Court of Justice of the European Communities is the judicial
institution of the Community. It is made up of three courts:
the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance and the
Civil Service Tribunal. Their main task is to examine the
legality of Community measures and ensure the uniform interpretation
and application of Community law (Article 220 of the EC Treaty).
To enable it properly to fulfil its task, the Court has
been given clearly defined jurisdiction, which it exercises
on references for preliminary rulings and in various categories
of proceedings (actions for failure to fulfil obligations,
actions for annulment, actions for failure to act, appeals,
reviews). As regards the interpretation and application of
Community environmental law, the rulings of the Court mainly
come from actions for failure to fulfil obligations (Articles
226-228 of the EC Treaty) or from references for preliminary
rulings (Article 234 of the EC Treaty). Information relating
to the Court of Justice is available on the website
of the Court.
Strictly speaking, the case-law is not a source of law.
However, through its case-law, the Court of Justice has identified
and established fundamental principles, such as the primacy
of Community law over national law or the liability of Member
States for breach of Community law.
With regard to the nature and biodiversity cases, the development
of the Court's case-law contributed to clarifying the obligations
of Member States under the Birds and Habitats Directives and
strengthening the rights of the European citizens.
Information relating to every case brought before
the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance since
1953 can be found on the following webpage (access to the case-law by case number).
Nature and Biodiversity Cases - Ruling of the European Court
of Justice
Nature
and Biodiversity cases ruling of the European Court of Justice
2006 (1,3 MB)
Purpose of this booklet is to have a brief and handy collection
of main Courts’ rulings (produced until 15th July 2006) related
to crucial articles of Birds and Habitats Directives. The
substance of this booklet is made of selected Court’s rulings
which are the most important ones in particular issues of
these two directives. |
