Court of First Instance of the European Communities

The Court of Justice of the European Communities ( Court of Justice ) deals with questions arising under the Treaties establishing the European Economic, the European Coal and Steel, and the European Atomic Energy Communities (collectively the Treaties ). In 1962, its law reports ran to 512 pages, already double the number in 1959. In 1985, they comprised 4,050 pages. In 1962, 62 cases were brought before the Court; in 1985, the number had risen to 433. Not surprisingly cases coming before the Court took longer to resolve -- the period from lodging the action to judgment had slipped from nine months to twenty months in 1985 and to thirty months or more in 1988 for actions brought directly by the applicants before the Court; it had slipped from six months to fourteen months to twenty-four in the same years for references by national courts asking the Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule on questions of interpretation or validity of Community legislation