Orders nº T-320/07 of Court of First Instance of the European Communities, April 28, 2009

• Resolution Date: April 28, 2009
• Issuing Organization: Court of First Instance of the European Communities
• Decision Number: T-320/07

(Legal Aid)

In Case T‑320/07 AJ,

Glen Jones and Daphne Jones, residing in Neath (United Kingdom), represented by S. Llewellyn Jones, Solicitor,

applicants,

v

Commission of the European Communities, represented by V. Di Bucci and J. Samnadda, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION for legal aid,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE SIXTH CHAMBER OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

makes the following

Order

1 By application filed at the Registry of the Court on 24 August 2007, the applicants brought an action pursuant to Article 230 EC seeking annulment of the Commission Decision of 18 June 2007 rejecting the complaint lodged by the applicants against the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), in relation to an alleged practice of discriminatory pricing applied by the CEGB in the purchase of coal intended for use in the production of electricity.

2 The written procedure was concluded on 17 October 2008.

3 By documents filed at the Registry of the Court on 6 November 2008 and 21 November 2008 respectively, Glen Jones and Daphne Jones requested the Court to grant them legal aid pursuant to Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance.

4 By letter filed at the Registry of the Court on 12 December 2008, the applicants, at the request of the Court, lodged additional documentary evidence in support of those applications.

5 The Commission did not respond to the Court’s invitation to it to lodge observations on those applications for legal aid.

6 First, in accordance with Article 94(1) of the Rules of Procedure, in order to ensure effective access to justice, legal aid granted for proceedings before the Court covers, in whole or in part, the costs involved in legal assistance and representation by a lawyer in proceedings before the Court. The cashier of the Court is responsible for those costs.

7 Under Article 94(2) and (3) of the Rules of Procedure, the grant of legal aid is subject to two conditions. First, the applicant, because of his economic situation, must be wholly or partly unable to meet the costs involved in legal assistance and representation by a lawyer before the Court and, second, his action must not appear to be manifestly inadmissible or manifestly unfounded.

8 Under Article 96(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the decision on the application for legal aid is taken by the President by way of an order, which must, if it refuses the legal aid applied for, state the reasons on which it is based.

9 In...