Application
The application is the act whereby the applicant initiates proceedings before the Complaints Board.
The detailed arrangements for submission of the application are described below.
The submission of an application does not have suspensory effect.
There are, however, summary proceedings, which allow the Chairman or a member of the Complaints Board to rule very quickly on an application seeking the suspension of enforcement or other interim measures.
What are the points of which I should be mindful before considering submission of an application?
1. I check the admissibility of my appeal, and the following points in particular:
Am I entitled to lodge this appeal?
See Who can submit an application to the Complaints Board?
If my child has reached the age of majority, he or she must lodge the appeal himself or herself (please note that this may be the case for Baccalaureate appeals).If I lodge the appeal as the parent of a child who is a minor, do I have the other parent's agreement to do so?
Has the deadline by which it is imperative for a contentious appeal to be lodged not already passed?
Was my administrative appeal dismissed ?
Apart from exceptions provided for in the case of certain appeals (these are referred to as direct appeals ), a contentious appeal may be lodged with the Complaints Board only if the applicant has lodged an admissible administrative appeal beforehand with the competent administrative authority (Secretary-General, Board of Inspectors or Chairman of the Examining Board) and if an express or implied decision rejecting it has been taken.
2. I consult the case law of the Complaints Board in cases similar to mine, to assess my chances of winning my case.
3. I take due note of the rules related to the legal and other costs of the case.
What is it absolutely essential for my application to contain?
Articles 14 and 15 of the Rules of Procedure lay down that the application must:
be submitted in writing;
be signed by the applicant(s) or his or her (their) lawyer;
be accompanied (unless evidence of the impossibility of doing so is duly provided) by a copy of the disputed decision or, if it is an implicit decision, of the document providing evidence of the lodging of a preliminary administrative appeal;
contain at least the following items of information and documents:
the name and address of the applicant and, where applicable, the name and address of his or her lawyer
the disputed act
a summary of the facts and of the pleas in law (arguments) on which the application is based. In principle, all the pleas in law must be put forward at the time of the lodging of the appeal (no new pleas may be put forward during the proceedings, unless these new pleas are based on de facto or de jure elements which have come to light during the contentious proceedings. And, in principle, all the arguments invoked in the contentious phase must have been invoked in the administrative phase also).
the form of order sought by the applicant (what I am seeking to obtain)
where appropriate, a list of the papers and documents annexed.
In which language can I submit my application?
All observations, oral or written, submitted to the Complaints Board must be made or written in one of the official languages appearing in the annex II to the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools.
The Registry makes the necessary arrangements for the provision of translations of the procedural documents (application, response, reply and final decision) and of interpretation at the hearing, as required.
For budgetary and organisational reasons, the language used initially by each party (i.e. in the appeal for the applicant and in the response for the defendant) must remain the same up to the end of the proceedings.
Must or can annexes be appended to my application?
It is imperative for the disputed act to be appended to the application.
Any other document may be appended, provided that it is relevant and necessary to understand the dispute and to support the arguments put forward.
An inventory of the annexes must then be appended.
The annexes are not, in principle, translated by the Registry.
Must the application respect certain formal criteria or length limits?
The application must be written and signed, but it is not subject to any formalism. The parties are, however, strongly recommended to endeavour to draft their documents comprehensively and concisely, clearly and precisely. Merely reading the application should enable the Complaints Board to grasp the essential de facto and de jure points, in particular because written submissions are often translated or read by people whose language is not necessarily that of the original. Long and obscure sentences and repetitions or unnecessarily long developments should be avoided. If the meaning of a text is obscure in the original language, translation is likely to make it even more obscure, the risk of this happening being all the greater as legal concepts have to be translated.
Is the involvement of a lawyer a compulsory requirement?
It is not compulsory for a lawyer to be involved: the applicant acts either for himself or herself or through a lawyer (Article 12 of the Rules of Procedure).
It will, however, be preferable if the dispute is complex. It will be compulsory at the hearing if the applicant does not appear in person himself or herself.
The European Schools for their part are represented by a member of staff (Secretary-General, Director, etc.) and assisted by a lawyer in virtually all cases.
Lawyers fees and costs are of course payable by the party which retains their services, subject to the unsuccessful party s possibly being ordered to pay the legal and other costs of the case to the successful party.
Can several applicants with common interests submit a single application?
Yes.
Several applicants (who may be represented by an association) who are seeking to have the same act declared void, on the basis of the same de facto and de jure arguments, can submit a single application, accompanied by a list of the persons concerned (surnames, first names, contact details, etc.); the application is then signed by the person(s) authorised to represent the group and to receive communications from the Registry.
It is strongly recommended that the Registry be contacted in order to check the practical arrangements for an appeal of this type (use of languages, prior administrative appeals, calculation of time periods, etc).
Where / how can I send the application?
The application must be lodged with the Registry of the Complaints Board, using one of the following means:
by email
by registered post
by delivery in person to the Registry (which will issue a receipt). Opening hours: 10-12AM; 2.30-4PM or by appointment.
Whatever the method used to send the application, it must be signed (either electronic signature or scan of the signed original paper version).
Contact details of the Registry of the Complaints Board
What happens after the application has been submitted?
The Registry acknowledges receipt of the appeal, registers it and sends it to the Chairman of the Complaints Board.
Except as provided for in Article 32 of the Rules of Procedure, ordinary proceedings before the Complaints Board consist of written proceedings (Articles 14-18 of the Rules of Procedure), followed, in principle, by oral proceedings (Articles 19-22 of the Rules of Procedure). See Stages in the proceedings.
Does submission of an application have suspensory effect?
No.
Article 16 of the Rules of Procedure provides that the application does not have suspensory effect: the decision against which the appeal has been lodged remains applicable throughout the contentious proceedings before the Complaints Board, except in the event of suspension of enforcement or interim measures (articles 16, 34 and 35 of the Rules of Procedure).
What can I do if my problem requires an urgent decision? What are the conditions specific to summary proceedings?
Summary proceedings exist: they allow the Chairman or a member of the Complaints Board to give a ruling very quickly on an application for suspension of enforcement or other interim measures (Chapter IV of the Rules of Procedure, Articles 34 and 35).
The admissibility of an appeal lodged in summary proceedings is linked with the admissibility of the appeal in the main proceedings.
In addition, an application for suspension of enforcement or other interim measures (summary proceedings) may be accepted only:
where the urgency of the matter so justifies,
there is a plea in law likely, at that stage of the investigation, to give rise to serious doubts as to the legality of the disputed decision, and
there is, in the circumstances of the particular case, a real risk of absence of effectiveness of the right to appeal.
These three conditions are cumulative (the fact that only one of them is not fulfilled is sufficient for the appeal to be dismissed in summary proceedings). In addition, if they are met, the taking into consideration of the interests involved should not preclude the measure requested.
An application seeking suspension of enforcement and other interim measures must be presented in summary proceedings, separately from the main proceedings, setting out de jure and de facto elements providing supporting evidence justifying the measure requested in the circumstances of summary proceedings.
The appeal lodged in summary proceedings is dealt with separately from the substantive appeal in the main proceedings (generally shorter time periods for the written proceedings and no public hearing).
Nevertheless, the order made in summary proceedings by the Chairman alone or the rapporteur designated by him or her is always temporary in nature, without prejudice to the hearing of the appeal in the main proceedings: the reason for this is that the trial judge(s) may take a different position from that adopted in the summary proceedings.