Maurice Lagrange, who drafted the ECSC Treaty and was subsequently Advocate General at the Court of Justice for 12 years, retraces the history of the Court of Justice from the Schuman Plan to the European Union.

Albert Van Houtte, Registrar at the Court of Justice from 1953 to 1982, retraces 'the short history of the Court' based on his memories, in a work published on the 35th anniversary of this institution. In an informal and sometimes anecdotal tone, it comments on the installation of the Court in Luxembourg, the successive changes in premises, the first tasks of the Court, the origin of the Court's seal and the judges' robes, etc.

Albert Van Houtte, Registrar of the Court of Justice from 1953 to 1982.

On 10 December 1952, in Luxembourg, the first Judges of the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community took the oath.

On 10 December 1952, in Luxembourg, the first Judges of the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community took the oath.

In a speech delivered during the inaugural session of the ECSC Court of Justice, the President of the High Authority, Jean Monnet, describes how the institution fits into the operational structure of the ECSC and outlines its role. He particularly stresses the supranational character of the tasks incumbent upon this new-style court of justice.

Convention on certain institutions common to the European Communities annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community. Revised version.

During his welcome address at the inaugural session of the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Foreign Minister, refers to a turning point in international judicial history. The ECSC Court of Justice is the first to be able to impose its decisions on States thanks to the supranational powers conferred upon it by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

On 10 December 1952, Joseph Meurice, Belgian Foreign Trade Minister, addresses the inaugural session of the Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community, emphasising the Court’s crucial role as guardian of compliance with the ECSC ‘basic charter’.

The first President of the Court of Justice of the ECSC is the Italian, Massimo Pilotti. In his opening address, he notes the difficulty facing the Court in its work when it is called upon to settle a new type of potential conflict: between States and a supranational authority.

First and last pages of the first judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the ECSC on 20 December 1954. The first page features the 'Curia' emblem, the words 'Court of Justice of the European Coal and Steel Community' and the circular seal. The last page presents the operative part of the judgment with the signatures of the President, Judges and Registrar.

On 4 February1958, an article in Le Populaire, carries out an initial evaluation of the ECSC Court of Justice and mentions the future Court of Justice of the European Communities.

Speech given on 7 October 1958 by the President of the Court of Justice, Andreas Matthias Donner, on the occasion of the establishment of the single Court of Justice of the European Communities. In his speech, Donner emphasises the scale of the responsibility entrusted to the members of the Court with a view to developing the rules of law in a new domain and, in so doing, pursuing the objectives of the three Communities.

Paul Finet, President of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Communitye from 13 January 1958 to 14 September 1959, delivers a speech at the solemn hearing of the Court of Justice of the European Communities of 7 October 1958, the date on which the single Court of Justice takes office.

First page of the first judgment concerning the Treaty of Rome delivered by the Court of Justice on 19 December 1961.

Allocution prononcée le 4 décembre 1992 par Jacques Santer, Premier ministre luxembourgeois, à l'occasion des quarante années d'existence de la Cour de justice des Communautés européennes au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg.

First and last pages of a recent judgment from the Bosman Case, delivered by the Court of Justice on 15 December 1995. The presentation of the first page has been redesigned and the circular seal has been replaced by a sticker. The last page still presents the operative part of the judgment with the signatures of the President, Judges and Registrar.

In April 2000 in the run-up to institutional reform, the President of the Court of Justice, Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, appraises the Court of Justice.

In an article published on 28 April 2000 in the French daily newspaper Le Monde, Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, calls for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) responsible for the reform of the Treaties with a view to enlargement not to neglect the reforms required by the judicial institution of the European Union in order for it to continue to exercise its powers.

On 22 May 2000, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro devotes an article to the Court of Justice of the European Communities: its aims, its tasks, the influence of its case-law and its relations with national legal systems.

In its article of 5 December 2002, the daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort gives an account of the proceedings of the official audience held the previous day at the Court of Justice of the European Communities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its establishment. The article summarises the addresses given in the Court’s main courtroom by Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Court of Justice, Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, Lene Espersen, Danish Justice Minister and President of the Council, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, and Ludwig Adamovich, President of the Austrian Constitutional Court.

Speech delivered by Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, at the formal sitting of 4 December 2002 held as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Court.

Photograph taken during the speech made by Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Court of Justice, at the formal sitting of 4 December 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Court.

In an address given on 4 December 2002, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the President of the Court of Justice, Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, looks back over the history of the institution, emphasising its greatest contribution: that of defining the main features of the Community legal system.

Photograph taken on 4 December 2002, during the formal session of the Court of Justice on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Court. From left to right, Lene Espersen, Danish Justice Minister and President of the Council, Ludwig Adamovich, President of the Austrian Constitutional Court, Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, the Grand Duchess and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Gil Carlos Rodríguez Iglesias, President of the Court of Justice.

In an interview granted to the CVCE in November 2003, Pierre Pescatore, Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Communities from 1967 to 1985, describes the Court of Justice as a privileged court in terms of the intellectual capacity of its Members and of the material resources available to its staff.

In an interview published in the Luxembourg newspaper Le Quotidien on 18 April 2005, Vassilios Skouris, President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities since 7 October 2003, explains the role and the development of the institution over which he presides, assesses its work in 2004 — the year in which the Union was enlarged to include ten new Member States — and outlines his expectations for the future.

Council Decision of 24 October 1988 establishing a Court of First Instance of the European Communities (88/591/ECSC, EEC, Euratom) as amended by the corrigendum published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Address delivered by Ole Due, President of the Court of Justice, on the occasion of the taking of the oath by the first Members of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 25 September 1989.

Address delivered by José Luis da Cruz Vilaça, President of the Court of First Instance, during the solemn hearing of 25 September 1989 on the occasion of the establishment of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities.

Decision of the President of the Court declaring the constitution of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities.

Council Decision of 8 June 1993 amending Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC, Euratom establishing a Court of First Instance of the European Communities (93/350/Euratom, ECSC, EEC).

Council Decision of 7 March 1994 amending Decision 93/350/Euratom, ECSC, EEC amending Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC, Euratom establishing the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (94/149/ECSC, EC).

Council Decision of 26 April 1999 amending Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC, Euratom establishing a Court of First Instance of the European Communities to enable it to give decisions in cases when constituted by a single judge (1999/291/EC, ECSC, Euratom).

Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice, this Decision is repealed with the exception of Article 3 insofar as the Court of First Instance exercises, pursuant to the said Article, the jurisdiction conferred on the Court of Justice by the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community.

Consolidated version of the Council Decision 88/591/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 24 October 1988 establishing a Court of First Instance of the European Communities, such as applied before the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice.

Examination of the reasons behind the establishment of a Court of First Instance.

Examination of the reasons behind the creation of a Court of First Instance.

In a presentation made to the ‘discussion circle’ on the Court of Justice on 24 February 2003, Bo Vesterdorf, President of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, discusses the changes experienced by the Court since the entry into force of the Nice Treaty and identifies areas where further reforms are desirable.

Council Decision of 2 November 2004 establishing the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (2004/752/EC, Euratom).

Decision of the President of the Court of Justice declaring the constitution of the European Union Civil Service Tribunal.