Raising the Bar: The Development of Docket Control on the Court of Justice

We examine the emergence and evolution of docket control mechanisms in the preliminary ruling procedure. Using both legal and statistical analysis, we show that reasoned orders have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s, with courts in Italy and Central and Eastern member states being the most...

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Published inZeitschrift für öffentliches Recht (Vienna, Austria : 1996) Vol. 76; no. 2; pp. 523 - 548
Main Authors Dyevre, Arthur, Glavina, Monika, Ovádek, Michal
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Verlag Österreich 25.06.2021
Subjects
Art 104 Rules of Procedure
Art 258 TFEU
Art 259 TFEU
Art 263 TFEU
Art 267 TFEU
Art 92 Rules of Procedure
Art 94 Rules of Procedure
Art 99 Rules of Procedure
docket control
European Court of Justice (ECJ)
preliminary references
reasoned orders
ZOER 2021, 523
Öffentliches Recht
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Summary:We examine the emergence and evolution of docket control mechanisms in the preliminary ruling procedure. Using both legal and statistical analysis, we show that reasoned orders have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s, with courts in Italy and Central and Eastern member states being the most frequent targets. We argue that the trajectory of the European Court of Justice’s docket policy is an indirect manifestation of its ascendant position as Europe’s judicial powerhouse. Facing a rising caseload, the Court has sought to optimise the allocation of its resources by applying stricter admissibility criteria and by prioritising references raising novel legal issues. For domestic courts, this evolution means that references must satisfy higher standards of quality and originality, although the application of these standards is itself influenced by the size of the Court’s backlog at the time of submission.
ISSN:0948-4396
1613-7663