Who Qualifies as a ‘Court or Tribunal’? Access to the Preliminary Reference Procedure and the Principle of Judicial Independence

At the institutional heart of the European legal order, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) acts as guardian of the uniform interpretation and application of EU law. One of the main mechanisms by which the CJEU performs this task is the preliminary reference system provided for in Article 267 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This provision enables (and in certain cases even requires) national courts to refer questions concerning the interpretation or validity of EU law to the CJEU. However, access to this system is strictly limited. Only bodies that qualify as ‘courts or tribunals’ within the meaning of Article 267 TFEU may make such a reference. In this article, the author examines the conditions under which a national body qualifies as a ‘court or tribunal’ within the meaning of Article 267 TFEU and how this qualification relates to the broader EU legal requirement of judicial independence as enshrined in Article 19 Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 47 Charter.