European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (Court of Justice of the European Communities) is the highest court in the European Union. The court has the final say in matters regarding European Union laws. Established in 1952, the court is housed in Luxembourg. It is made up of a single judge per member state. The court is led by a president. The current president is Vassilios Skouris who has held the same position since 2003. The Court of Justices sits as a full court in a grand chamber of 13 judges. The court can also sit in three chambers of three to five judges.Luxembourg was selected as the court's seat in 1952. Its first hearing was held in 1954 in the Villa Baugan building. It later moved to the CÙte d'Eich building in 1959, and today resides in the Palais building which is also the first European institution building to be built on the Kirchberg Plateau. The Palais was designed by Belgian architects Jamagne and Vander Elst. Luxembourg architect Conzemius also assisted with the venture. In all, the building houses four extensions to accommodate administration. These extensions are the Erasmus Building (1988), the Thomas More Building (1993), the ìCî Building (1994), and finally the fourth building which was designed by architect Dominique Perrault.
