Translation of "Entscheidende instanz" in English

Since the Treaty on European Union the European Parliament has taken on deciding powers in certain fields.

The result of this vote will, however, send a signal and impose on you, the Council, who are supposed to take final decisions, the duty of finding your own compromises before this Presidency's time is up.

However, having regard to the importance of the principle of legal certainty, it appears legitimate to seek a time frame for applications for the review and withdrawal of administrative decisions which have become final after the exhaustion of national remedies and which prove to be contrary to Community law as subsequently interpreted by the Court, without the national court ruling at final instance having referred a question to the Court for a preliminary ruling.

Consequently I propose that the Court’s reply to the national court should be that Community law does not preclude an application for the review and withdrawal of an administrative decision which has become final after the exhaustion of domestic remedies and which proves to be contrary to Community law as subsequently interpreted by the Court, without the national court ruling at final instance having referred a question to the Court for a preliminary ruling, from being made subject to a timelimit pursuant to the principle of legal certainty.

The Court of First Instance concluded that the uniform protection of the proprietor of a trade mark falls within the general principles common to the laws of the Member States, so that the Community cannot, on principle, be excluded from a corresponding procedural measure on the part of the Community courts, particularly as the Community institutions are obliged to comply with the entire body of Community law, which includes secondary law.

In the judgment, the Court of Justice points out that in accordance with the acte clair doctrine from case Cilfit (C-283/81) the national court deciding at last instance has the duty to refer the matter to the Court of Justice pursuant to Article 267(3) when it has been asked a question regarding the interpretation of TFEU, and is free of this obligation only when it establishes that the question is not relevant before the court, that the Court of Justice has already answered the question or that the correct application of EU law is so obvious that it admits of no reasonable doubt.

The deciding department must demonstrably hear and consider the comments (T 206/10, with further reference to T 763/04, T 246/08; see also T 1709/06, T 645/11).

With the judgment in question, the Court of Justice clearly takes the position that the infringement of the obligations under Article 267(3) TFEU by the court deciding at last instance actually constitutes the failure to fulfil obligations by the Member State in which the national court has acted this way, for which liability of the Member State may be established under the procedure from Article 258 TFEU.

When a patent was revoked for lack of novelty, the department concerned had to be sure, having taken all the facts and arguments put forward during the proceedings into consideration, that the revocation was justified.

In T 866/01 the board stated that observations by a third party are regularly taken into consideration by the department which is responsible for deciding on the grant, maintenance or revocation of a patent, if such observations provide legal or technical information relevant to the decision to be taken by that department.

In doing so, it will be not only the decisive critical factor which determines the foundations and limits of the different fields of scientific learning, but will also take its place as the ultimate framework of the unity of human knowledge and action, leading them to converge towards a final goal and meaning.

Initially his power is based especiallyon his role as chief war leader and deciding institution in times of crisis.

This enables FINMA to focus on the coordination and monitoring of the proceedings plus its role as the responsible body instead of the bankruptcy and debt-restructuring cantonal courts.

Thus the state of the popular consciousness – decisive factor in a revolutionary policy – made impossible the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in July.

The family has not sought the decision of an Austrian authority since then.

First instance decisions are reached, on average, within 8 months.

The appeal has a suspensive effect on the first instance decision.

Fantasy becomes a decisive instance for the creation of images.

So they have completely reversed the decision of the first instance.

Only in the event of an improper exercise of discretion was the board to set aside the department of first instance's decision.

To take just two examples, in 2009, the percentage of positive decisions at first instance in the Member States ranged from 65% to less than 1%.

The time limit for lodging an appeal against a negative decision at first instance ranged from two to 30 days.

That is why I think it is necessary to establish an authority, not at a political level, but at a professional and technical level, without the immediate preoccupation of representing people, without the immediate preoccupation of consensus, where opinions can be expressed in a strictly professional way, but only in terms of consultancy. They cannot replace the final decision by the political authority, far less become blanket opinions, as someone else has already said.

In the meantime, it would seem to be essential to endeavour to improve the quality of initial decisions, as recommended in our proposal on asylum procedures.

As regards the legal arrangements, the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market proposes that first instance jurisdiction should be at national level, such that appeals can be made to national courts with experience in patent cases as first instance courts for Community patent litigation, while second instance decisions would be the responsibility of the European Chamber for intellectual property.

Individual membership shall cease on resignation, on removal from office, through death, in the case of force majeure or in the event of an incompatibility of functions arising on resignation, through death or the decision of an external body which the Committee is legally obliged to implement.