The document discusses several European and UK legal institutions. It outlines the 27 member states of the EU and when they joined. It then describes several key EU institutions including the European Commission, Council of Ministers, European Parliament, Court of Justice, European Council and their main functions. Finally it provides an overview of the legal system and courts in England, Wales and the UK Supreme Court.

1. European and UK Legal Institutions
5 September 2012
Dr Liza Lovdahl Gormsen
Liza.lovdahlgormsen@manchester.ac.uk
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2. Members of the EU
• The Union has 27 ‘Member States’; six that formed the Community and the
rest that joined according to the following time line:
• 1957: France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg;
• 1973: United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark (Greenland left in 1985);
• 1981: Greece;
• 1986: Spain and Portugal;
• 1995: Sweden, Finland, and Austria;
• 2004: Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus;
• 2007: Bulgaria and Romania.
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3. Institutions I
1) The Commission
2) The Council of Ministers of Europe
3) The Parliament
4) The Court of Justice/the General Court
5) The European Council
6) The European Central Bank
7) The Court of Auditors
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4. Institutions II
• Economic and Social Committee
• Committee of the Regions
• Committee of Permanent Representatives of the MS
• European Investment Bank
• Agencies
• Ombudsman
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5. The European Commission
• The central institution within the EU system.
• Commissioners appointed by MS for 5 years period.
• 1 Commissioner per MS (possibility of reappointment).
• From 2014 onwards: rotation of 2/3 of MS.
• Commissioners chosen for competence and act
independently.
• DG structure / Managing powers belong to President of
Commission.
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6. Functions
• Initiate legislation + policies
• Supervise abidance to Treaties and EU legislation by
MS and national agencies
• Execute the budget and decisions, conduct external
relations, and implement policies decided by Council.
• Investigate and decide in fields of competence
• Negotiate agreements later concluded by Council
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7. Council of Ministers of Europe
• Constituted by MS representatives at ministerial level.
• Presidency rotates through MS every six months.
• Sets agenda of meetings + can develop policies.
• Meets under different configurations, depending on topic.
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8. Functions
• To ensure that the objectives set out in the Treaties are
attained the Council:
– exercises legislative and budgetary functions;
– takes decisions and makes recommendations;
– may delegate legislative power to the Commission
• Coordinate all EU policies
• Decide rules
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9. The European Parliament
•1957: Non-democratic Assembly
– Members of national parliaments (dual mandate).
•1979: Introduction of direct elections + increased democracy.
•2009: 736 MEPs with 5 years mandates.
•Functions: From advisory and supervisory to consultative,
investigatory and decisional.
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10. Country MEPs (EU-27)
• Belgium 22
• Bulgaria 17
• Czech Rep 22
• Denmark 13
• Germany 99
• Estonia 6
• Ireland 12
• Greece 22
• Spain 50
• France 72
• Italy 72
• Cyprus 6
• Latvia 8
• Lithuania 12
• Luxembourg 6
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11. Country MEPs (EU-27)
• Hungary 22
• Malta 5
• Holland 25
• Austria 17
• Poland 50
• Portugal 22
• Romania 33
• Slovenia 7
• Slovakia 13
• Finland 13
• Sweden 18
• UK 72
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12. The Court of Justice
• 1 Judge / MS, assisted by an Advocates-General.
• Highly competent and independent.
• Six-year terms, possible reappointment.
• Plenary (13) or Chambers (3 or 5).
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13. The General Court
• Created in 1988.
• General competence with TL.
• Appeals to the Court of Justice.
• http://curia.europa.eu/.
• Provides all the Courts’ cases including pending, recent case
law and the Opinions of the Advocate Generals.
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14. Useful Web Sites
• The European Union Official Web Site http://europa.eu./
• Council of the European Union
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.ASP?lang=en
• European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
• European Parliament
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/default_en.htm
• Court of Justice/General Court http://curia.europa.eu/
• Eur-Lex http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
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15. UK Institutions
• The UK (England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland) does
not have a unified judicial system.
• There is one system for England and Wales, another for
Scotland, and a third for N. Ireland.
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16. Appeal Courts England and Wales
• Magistrates’ Court
• Country Courts (220)
• High Court - divisional courts
• Queen’s bench (appeal of criminal cases from the Magistrates Court)
• Chancery divisional court (land, probate, tax, bankruptcy)
• Family divisional court
• The court of appeal – civil division
• Magistrates’ court
• Coroners’ courts (1194)
• The Crown Court (class 1-4 offences)
• The Criminal Court
• The court of appeal – criminal division
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17. The Supreme Court
• The highest court is the Supreme Court of the UK
created by Act in 2005 and began work in 2009.
• It is the highest court in all matters under English law, N.
Irish law and Scottish civil law.
• It is the court of last resort except for criminal cases in
Scotland which remains with the High Court of Justiciary
(supreme criminal court of Scotland).
• The court consists of 12 judges (Lords).
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18. Useful Web Sites
• The Lords of the Supreme Court:
http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/about/biographies.html
• Q & A on the Supreme
Courthttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8283967.stm
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