Written proceedings

Are there always written proceedings?

What is the purpose of written proceedings?

As is the case before any court or tribunal, written proceedings are an important phase as they allow the parties to exchange their procedural papers and to set out the facts clearly and precisely, but also their pleas in law and arguments, and their submissions.
This exchange allows the Complaints Board to be fully informed of each party s arguments, set out within the framework of an inter partes hearing, during which each of the parties put its case.

What are the procedural papers ?

The procedural papers are the initial application the defendant s written response (observations of the European Schools), the applicant s reply and a rejoinder, if appropriate.

For reasons of efficiency and because the arguments are supposed to have already been exchanged in the context of the administrative appeal, there is only after submission of the application, a single exchange of procedural papers: a written response and a reply.

However, if the case is complex or if the defendant (the European Schools) intends to respond to the reply, it may request permission to submit a rejoinder.

What is the time period within which the procedural papers must be lodged with the Registry?

The Chairman of the Complaints Board sets, by order, the deadlines by which the response (written observations) of the defendant (the European Schools) and the applicant s reply must be produced in succession (Article 17 of the Rules of Procedure).

The Registry sends the order setting the deadlines of the proceedings to the parties.

Do these deadlines set by order have to be strictly met?

Yes.
Extensions of deadlines can be envisaged only by way of exception and on receipt of a reasoned request to that effect (Article 17.2 of the Rules of Procedure).

In which language should the procedural papers be written?

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.

As an applicant, am I obliged to submit a reply? What is the purpose of the reply?

No.
If the application is complete, de facto and de jure, and if the applicant considers that it is not necessary, after considering the defendant s response (observations of the European Schools), to reply to the latter s arguments, he or she will not submit a reply.
The fact that a reply is not submitted will under no circumstances be interpreted as amounting to acquiescence to the position developed by the defendant.

Any reply is designed to supplement the application, expanding on de facto or de jure elements put forward in the defendant s response. Under no circumstances should it repeat what has already been argued in the application.

In the reply, can I present new arguments which were not put forward in my application?

As is the case before most of the European Union courts and tribunals, proceedings before the Complaints Board are governed by the principle whereby no submission of a new plea in law may be introduced in the course of proceedings, unless it is based on matters of law or of fact which have come to light in the course of the procedure (Article 18.2 of the Rules of Procedure).

Must the procedural papers respect certain formal criteria or length limits?

As is the case for the application, the procedural papers are 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.

Can annexes be appended to the procedural papers?

Yes, of course. The parties should, however, take care to ensure that only annexes which are relevant and necessary to understand the dispute and to support the arguments put forward are appended and that an inventory of the annexes is produced.

The annexes are not, in principle, translated by the Registry.

Where / how can I send the procedural papers?

The procedural papers (application, response, reply and rejoinder) 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.

Contact details of the Registry of the Complaints Board

What happens on closure of the written proceedings?

The designated rapporteur considers the written papers exchanged, produces a summary report on them and decides, with the Chairman of the Complaints Board, whether or not there should be a public hearing of the case.
The Registry informs the parties of the decision taken as to the next stage of the proceedings.

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