Where Is the Referring National Court at the CJEU’s Oral Hearing?

Abstract

Where Is the Referring National Court at the CJEU’s Oral Hearing? The short answer to this question is: Not present! However, the subsequent question that comes up with the author is: Should the referring national court be allowed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’s oral hearing in the context of the proceedings of a preliminary ruling? The answer to this question will be given, using a traditional legal methodology. This makes it possible to acquire a more complete understanding of the function of the referring national court in the proceedings of preliminary rulings and its possible position in the future in these proceedings as far as it concerns the CJEU’s oral hearing. Firstly, the author will discuss the aims of the oral hearing and address the current rules on what parties will be allowed to CJEU’s oral hearing. Subsequently, the concept of judicial cooperation will be highlighted, because this concept may provide arguments for answering the research question of this editorial. At the end, the author will answer this question. The author will argue that the referring national court should also be allowed to the CJEU’s oral hearing in the context of the proceedings of a preliminary ruling.