The Court of Justice after the Treaty of Lisbon

Abstract

This article contains a brief overview of the provisions on the EU Courts in the renewed European treaties resulting from the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. This Treaty has introduced a new nomenclature for judicial bodies of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The appointment of Members of the Court of Justice and of the General Court is subject to the opinion of an advisory panel on the candidate’s suitability to perform the duties of judge of these bodies. With the exception of the common foreign and security policy, the jurisdiction of the EU Courts now extends to EU law as a whole, including the area of freedom, security and justice and the Charter on Fundamental Rights. The high barriers to the admissibility of private actions for annulment are somewhat lowered by Article 263, fourth paragraph TFEU, which provides for such actions to be brought against regulatory acts of the EU.