Concept of "a court or tribunal of a member state” within the meaning of article 267 TFEU

Sutarties dėl Europos Sąjungos veikimo 267 straipsnio taikymo aspektu straipsnyje analizuojama teismo sąvoka. Būtent „teismo“ sąvoka prejudicinio sprendimo priėmimo procese, vykstančiame Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teisme, yra pagrindinis straipsnio tyrimo objektas. Atitinkamai straipsnyje analizuojama Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teismo jurisprudencija, kurioje buvo išskirti pagrindiniai kriterijai, leidžiantys nustatyti, ar valstybės narės institucija, besikreipianti į Europos Sąjungos Teisingumo Teismą dėl prejudicinio sprendimo priėmimo, gali būti pripažįstama teismu Europos Sąjungos prejudicinio sprendimo priėmimo procese.The aim of the present article is to analyse the concept of a "court or tribunal" and its meaning within the preliminary ruling procedure of Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The article analyses the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice which defines the main criteria on establishing whether a body of a Member State requesting a preliminary ruling is deemed to be "a court or tribunal" in the preliminary ruling procedure. The first part of the article focuses on the requirement of Article 267 TFEU, according to which only "a court or tribunal of a Member State" may request the Court of Justice to give a preliminary ruling. The article contains examples of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice recognising the overseas "countries and territories" "courts" and "a court common to a number of Member States" as courts under Article 267 TFEU. It also addresses some of the most recent decisions of the Court of Justice concerning the "right of the courts" to initiate a procedure of preliminary ruling. The second part of this article analyses the criteria according to which the Court of Justice determines whether a national body requesting a preliminary ruling can be qualified as "a court or tribunal" under Article 267 TFEU. The Court analyses the following points: whether the body is established by law, whether it is permanent, whether its jurisdiction is compulsory, whether its procedure is inter partes, whether it applies rules of law, whether it is independent and whether its judgments are intended to lead to a decision of a judicial nature