Dear Ms X,

You recently submitted a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Commission. You consider that the letter you received from the CJEU is a violation of your fundamental rights. In your letter to the Commission, you also raise concerns about the violation of your fundamental rights. You are dissatisfied with the response that you received from the Commission.

After careful analysis of all the information you provided with your complaint, we have decided to close the inquiry with the following conclusion:

Based on the information provided in the complaint, there was no maladministration by the Court of Justice nor the Commission in how they informed you of their roles.

Regarding the CJEU, please note that the Ombudsman is not entitled to deal with complaints about how it acts in its judicial role.

However, the information that the CJEU provided about its role is correct.

The CJEU sent you a letter in response to your request for legal aid made in person at the premises of the Court. In its letter, the CJEU informed you that it cannot intervene in the matter that you raised, as the issue raised falls within the competence of national authorities in the Member States. The CJEU explained that it is responsible for ensuring that EU law is interpreted and applied correctly, but does not rule on cases that solely concern national law. It pointed out that, while national courts can ask questions on the interpretation and validity of EU law, individuals do not have standing before the CJEU. Individuals can bring an action against an EU institution before the General Court, if represented by a lawyer. The CJEU furthermore explained that violations of human rights are matters ruled upon by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The Commission also gave you correct information about its role.  

The Commission, in its response to your letter, explained that it cannot intervene in the issue you raised, as the matter does not seem to relate to the implementation of EU law. In particular, the Commission clarified that it has no general powers to intervene with the Member States in the area of fundamental rights unless it concerns an issue of EU law. As stated by the Commission, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is only applicable to Member States when implementing EU law (Article 51 (1) of the Charter).

In addition, please be informed that the Ombudsman may only look into complaints against the European Union's institutions, bodies, offices and agencies. In your complaint, you describe several concerns in relation to the German Military Counterintelligence Service. As stated by both institutions in their letter, you may wish to contact a lawyer or an organisation offering legal aid in Germany to seek further advice.[1]

I appreciate this may not be your desired outcome, but I hope you find this information helpful. Thank you for having contacted the European Ombudsman.

Yours sincerely,

Tina Nilsson
Head of the Case-handling Unit

Strasbourg, 04/12/2023

 

[1] For more information, see https://e-justice.europa.eu/37129/DE/legal_aid?GERMANY&init=true&member=1 and https://www.rak-berlin.de/das-recht/anwaltssuche.php.