Appeal – Staff employed at the JET joint undertaking – Application of a legal status different from that of members of the temporary staff – Compensation for material damage suffered – Time-limits for instituting proceedings – Late submission – Reasonable period
110 employees brought discrimination claims under the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, which were dismissed by the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (First Chamber) as having been brought out of time. On appeal to the General Court, the applicants argued that there was no time constraint for the bringing of such claims. In rejecting that argument the court held: ‘In that regard, it must be held that the appellants’ argument that the absence of a time limit automatically means that it is possible to bring a claim for damages without any time-limit cannot succeed. It should be noted on that point that, contrary to what the appellants contend, there is an obligation to act within a reasonable time in all cases except those where the legislature has expressly excluded or expressly laid down a specific time-limit. The legal basis for setting a reasonable time-limit, in the absence of any statutory rule, is the principle of legal certainty, which precludes institutions and natural persons from acting without any time-limits, thereby threatening to undermine the stability of legal positions already acquired . . Thus, in the absence of any statutory rule, it is for the judicature to decide on the length of the reasonable period for submitting a claim for damages, in the light of the circumstances of the case . . ‘
Citations:
[2011] EUECJ T-433/10 – P, ECLI:EU:T:2011:744
Links:
Jurisdiction:
European
Cited by:
Cited – FMX Food Merchants Import Export Co Ltd v Revenue and Customs SC 29-Jan-2020
This appeal concerns the meaning and effect of the phrase ‘Customs Debt’ in article 221(4) of the former Customs Code of the EU, contained in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92. Customs duties may be due under ‘post-clearance demands’ and the Court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 27 May 2022; Ref: scu.678145