The administrative functions of the Court of Justice of the European Union

This article focuses on aspects of the Court of Justice’s work that have received, to date, very limited scholarly attention: its administrative functions. It demonstrates that understanding what constitutes the Court’s administrative functions has implications pertaining to the access to document regime, as well as the scope of supervision by both the European Ombudsman and the European Data Protection Supervisor over the Court of Justice. Through a critical examination of the applicable legal framework concerning the CJEU’s administrative functions, as well as an exploration of several ‘missed opportunities’ which could have been used by the Court to provide further clarity on this matter, it is argued that the Court has elected to proceed on a purely ad hoc basis, with a view to strengthening its autonomy and expanding its discretion. This explains its reluctance to provide further clarity on the scope of its administrative functions. The time is now appropriate for the Court to improve its accountability and transparency vis-à-vis its non-judicial work. Thinking about the way forward, since the delineation of the Court’s administrative functions should preserve the latter’s independence, while simultaneously improving its accountability and transparency, the article argues (and explains how) the Court should apply a more principled (and publicly available) approach, with a view to deciding when the activity or document in question is ‘administrative’.