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European Union: case law: Databases

Databases

The case law since 17/06/1997 is accessible in all EU official languages via the court's website. Its database includes the full text of judgments, opinions of the Court, Advocate General's opinions and orders of the EU courts. Furthermore, the database contains summaries of decisions, information on decisions which have not been published in the court reports and notices in the Official Journal of the European Union.

You can search the database by case number, date, name of the parties, reference words in the text, etc.1

 

  1. e-justice.europa.eu/content_eu_case_law-12-en.do

Below you see the homepage with a quick search form.

On the left side is a menu. Here you find:

  • Search form with multiple criteria to limit your search
  • Access to the case-law by case number (numerical access)
  • Digest of case-law, a systematic collection of the summaries of judgments and orders of the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal delivered or made since they commenced their activities
  • The alphabetical table of subject-matter lists the legal questions dealt with in the decisions of the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal and in the Opinions of the Advocates General, presented in alphabetical order (available only in French)
  • Annotation of judgments: This section contains references to ‘notes de doctrine’ – annotations by legal commentators relating to the judgments delivered by the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal since those courts were first established. Please note that although this work is available in French only, references appear in their original language.

Use the  CURIA geavanceerd zoeken  button if you want to perform an advanced search.

  • the  CURIA help button provides you with help on the criterion concerned
  • the CURIA suggesties button shows more search options
  • Use the menu 'List of results' on the left side to choose display options and sorting options different from those offered by default.

Try for yourself below.

In the List of results you can use the CURIA coördinaten van de zaak button to find case information like citations of case-law or legislation, dates, references - for instance notes on academic writings- and procedural analysis information.
An example is shown below.

EUR-Lex is the legal database of the European Union. It provides amongst others free access to EU case-law (judgements, orders, etc.).

Below you see the webpage in EUR-Lex where you can find and consult case law from the EU Court of Justice.

Use 'Search in EU case law' to perform an advanced search.

Use the 'Directory of European Union case law' to browse systematically through the collection of judgments and orders of the Court of Justice, General Court and Civil Service Tribunal.

Try for yourself.

Once you've found the document or legislative procedure you wish to consult, you can use the 'About this document' tab to find notes relating to the decision.
An example is shown below.

JURE, a database created by the European Commission, contains case law on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters and on the recognition and enforcement of judgments in a State other than the one where the judgment was passed.

The JURE collection contains relevant judgments delivered by courts in contracting states (EU Member States and if applicable Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and the EU Court of Justice under the following:

The judgments are available in their original language only.

There is also a summary of each judgment in English, French and German (and in the original language, if the country in question provides one).

Below you see the JURE search form (in EUR-Lex) with multiple criteria to limit your search.

JURIFAST is the database of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Councils of State or the Supreme administrative jurisdictions of each of the members of the European Union (ACA Europe). This database contains the references and the full text:

  • of the "preliminary files" with :
    • the preliminary question submitted to the Court of Justice of the European Union
    • the Court's answer to this question
    • the national decision(s) following this answer
  • of other national decisions on the interpretation of European Union law (decisions without reference)

Below you see the homepage with a search form on the right sight.

Try for yourself.

For each decision, the database contains:

  • the date and a short description of the subject;
  • the full text of the ruling or judgement;
  • a summary in French and English;
  • a link to the relevant provisions of European law.

In the case of preliminary questions, additional information is added in due course, namely:

  • a link to the ECJ's response;
  • the decision resulting from this response.