Keith Mack
EU case law is made up of judgments from the European Union's Court of Justice, which interpret EU legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the EU’s judicial body, and it ensures that EU law is uniformly interpreted and applied through its 2 courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court. There are several ways to search for EU case law, including through the CURIA website, which contains case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Georgetown Law Library's European Union Research Guide, and the European e-Justice Portal, which provides access to case law at the Member State level.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Official reporter for the European Court of Justice | European Court Reports (ECR) |
| Official caselaw search tool of the Court of Justice of the European Union | InfoCuria Case-law |
| Search EU cases | Lexis, Westlaw, Common Market Law Reports |
| Search by | Case name, case number |
| Databases for case law on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters | JURE |
| Database for case law on constitutional matters | CODICES |
| Database for national decisions of courts and special bodies related to issues of discrimination law | EU Agency for Fundamental Rights |
| Website to find sites of national databases | Network of the Presidents of the supreme judicial courts of the EU |
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What You'll Learn
Search by subject matter
EU case law is made up of judgments from the European Union's Court of Justice, which interpret EU legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the EU’s judicial body and ensures that EU law is uniformly interpreted and applied through its 2 courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court.
The CURIA website is the official website of the European Court of Justice and the General Court. It provides access to all decisions reported in European Court Reports since 1954. The Curia database provides access to case law in a variety of ways. The Search Form supports full-text searches, as well as searches of a large number of fields, enabling precise case-law retrieval. Field search options include, for example, the stage of cases (closed and/or pending cases), the Court involved, the type of document (such as judgments, orders, opinions, etc.), the case number, the names of parties, a period or date, the subject matter, the procedure and the result, the legal acts of the European Union cited in the case law, systematic subject classification, and the country of origin.
The Europa Case Law page also allows users to search for EU case law by case number, case name, and various other methods of access, including by systematic subject classification and boolean full-text searching.
The European Union Cases file in WestlawNext contains the full-text decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the Court of First Instance of the European Communities, as well as the text of advocate-general opinions, court orders, and more.
Lexis.com (Eur-Lex European Union Cases) includes European Court of Justice decisions from 1954 and Court of First Instance decisions from 1989. This file includes judgments of the Court and the opinions delivered by the Advocate-General.
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Search via the CURIA website
The CURIA website is the official website of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It provides access to the case law of the Court of Justice, which includes:
- Cases brought by EU institutions, member states, corporate bodies, or individuals against an act or failure to act of an EU institution, body, office, or agency.
- Cases brought against EU member states for failing to fulfil their obligations under the EU treaties.
- National courts' requests for preliminary rulings on the validity or interpretation of EU law.
- Opinions of the Court of Justice on draft agreements between the EU and non-EU countries or international organisations.
The CURIA website offers a search form that allows users to search for case law by keyword or case number. The search form also provides the option to limit the search to documents published in Court Reports and to include or exclude case law summaries in the search results.
In addition to the search form, the CURIA website provides access to the Directory of Case-Law, which organises all the documents in this section into nine main domains and several subdomains. The website also includes a section called "Reports of Cases", which allows users to search directly in the official reports by the jurisdictions of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
It's important to note that the CURIA website requires certain cookies and similar technologies to function, and users may need to enable these on their browsers to access all the features of the site.
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Search by jurisdiction
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the EU's judicial body. It ensures that EU law is uniformly interpreted and applied through its two courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court. The official reporter for the European Court of Justice is European Court Reports (ECR).
EU case law can be found on the CURIA website, which includes cases brought by EU institutions, EU member states, corporate bodies, or individuals against an act or failure to act of an EU institution, body, office, or agency. The CURIA website also includes cases brought against EU member states for failing to fulfil their obligations under the EU treaties and national courts' requests for preliminary rulings on the validity or interpretation of EU law.
To search for Member State case law, you can either use a Member State database by selecting one of the flags listed or use one of the European databases. JURE, a database created by the European Commission, contains case law on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters and on the recognition and enforcement of judgments in a State other than the one where the judgment was passed. This includes case law on relevant international conventions and EU and Member State case law. The Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union (ACA Europe) provides two databases of Member State case law that deal with the application of EU law, called "JuriFast" and "Dec.Nat".
The European e-Justice Portal also provides information on the various Member State courts, and many of these courts have websites providing databases of their own case law. The Network of the Presidents of the supreme judicial courts of the EU provides the sites of several national databases (and also of some candidate countries) containing the case law of the supreme courts of those Member States. The European e-Justice Portal also includes a database of national decisions of courts and special bodies related to issues of discrimination law.
The European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) is a useful tool for searching case law in different search engines. It was launched on 4 May 2016 and provides access to national and European case law, stored in any database. Searches can be conducted based on the ECLI, its metadata, or full text.
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Search by case name or number
The European Union has several resources for searching EU case law by case name or number. The Georgetown Law Library guide on finding EU case law recommends using the European Union Law Reporter, which allows users to search for cases by name under the Finding Lists tab. The guide also suggests using the European Community Cases (CEC), which includes selected Court of Justice, Court of First Instance, and Commission decisions since 1989. Users can search for cases by name or case number using the Index tab.
Another option is to use the EUR-Lex database, which provides access to EU case law, including judgments, orders, and opinions of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The database offers an advanced search form that allows users to search by case number. Additionally, the CURIA website provides access to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and offers a search form to find cases by subject matter.
For those looking for official reports, the European Court Reports (ECR) is the official reporter for the European Court of Justice. This can be accessed through HeinOnline or in print at the Law Library. The InfoCuria Case-law search tool also provides access to cases from the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, and the Civil Service Tribunal.
Finally, users can also try using dedicated search pages for EU cases on Lexis and Westlaw. These databases include Court of Justice cases since 1954 and offer comprehensive coverage of EU case law.
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Search via a Member State database
One way to search for EU case law is through a Member State database. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the EU's judicial body, and its Court of Justice interprets EU legislation through its judgments, which constitute EU case law. The official reporter for the European Court of Justice is the European Court Reports (ECR), which is available through HeinOnline and in print at the Georgetown Law Library through 2010. The ECR is also known as the Reports of Cases Before the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
Another resource is the InfoCuria Case-law search tool, which includes cases from the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, and the Civil Service Tribunal. Lexis and Westlaw also have dedicated search pages for EU cases, with Westlaw including Court of Justice cases since 1954, Court of First Instance cases since 1989, and European Free Trade Association Court cases since 1994.
Additionally, the European Union Law Reporter provides cases from the European Court of Justice and national courts, which can be searched by name under the Finding Lists tab. The European Community Cases (CEC) is another resource, with selected Court of Justice, Court of First Instance, and Commission decisions since 1989. The Topical Index in the current volume provides citations of opinions, and cases can be searched by name or case number using the Index tab.
Finally, the CURIA website provides access to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, including cases brought by EU institutions, Member States, corporate bodies, or individuals against an act or failure to act of an EU institution, as well as cases brought against Member States for failing to fulfil their obligations under EU treaties.
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Frequently asked questions
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the EU’s judicial body. It ensures that EU law is uniformly interpreted and applied through its 2 courts: the Court of Justice and the General Court. The official reporter for the European Court of Justice is European Court Reports (ECR). The Law Library’s most convenient and current option for accessing the ECR is via HeinOnline.
There are several online tools available to search for EU case law. Some of these include:
- InfoCuria Case-law: Official caselaw search tool of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Includes cases from the Court of Justice, the Court of First Instance, and the Civil Service Tribunal.
- Lexis: Dedicated search page for EU cases.
- Westlaw: Dedicated search page for EU cases, including Court of Justice cases since 1954 and Court of First Instance cases since 1989.
- JURE: A database created by the European Commission, containing case law on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in a State other than the one where the judgment was passed.
Most Member States have one or more databases of the decisions and opinions of their courts regarding EU law, national law, and regional and/or local law. You can search for Member State case law via a Member State database by selecting one of the flags listed on the European e-Justice Portal website. Alternatively, you can use one of the European databases, such as JURE or CODICES, which contain case law from multiple EU Member States.
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