Court of Justice of the European Union and litigation

The Court of Justice of the European Union's job is to ensure that EU law is complied with, and that the treaties are correctly interpreted and applied.

It can find any EU member state guilty of failing to fulfil its obligations under the treaties. It can check whether EU laws have been properly enacted and it can find the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission guilty of failing to act as required.

The Court of Justice is also the only institution that can, at the request of the national courts, give a ruling on the interpretation of the treaties and on the validity and interpretation of EU law. So, when a question of this sort is brought before a court in one of the member states, that court may - and sometimes must - ask the Court of Justice for its ruling.

This system ensures that EU law is interpreted and applied in the same way throughout the European Union.

Find more information about the Court of Justice of the European Union here.

For information on sexual orientation and gender identity cases at the Court of Justice of the European Union see the paper prepared by ILGA-Europe's Council of Europe legal adviser, Professor Robert Wintemute: Sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination: the case law of the European Court of Human rights and the European Union Court of Justice

Find judgments related to LGBT issues here...

Trans:

• P v S v. Cornwall County Council [1996] Case C-13/94
• K.B. v. National Health Service Pensions Agency [2004] Case C-117/01
• Sarah Margaret Richards v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2006] Case C-423/04

Same-sex families:

• Jürgen Römer v Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg [2011] Case C-147/08

Employment:

• Tadao Maroku v. Versorgungsanstalt der deutschen Bühnen [2008] Case C‑267/06
• Asociaţia Accept v Consiliul Naţional pentru Combaterea Discriminārii [2013] Case C‑81/12
• Frédéric Hay v Crédit agricole mutuel de Charente-Maritime et des Deux –Sèvres[2013] Case C‑267/12

Asylum

• X, Y, Z v Minister voor Immigratie en Asiel [2013] Joined Cases C‑199/12 to C‑201/12