European e-Justice Portal

Case law

The term 'case law' refers to rules and principles developed in judgments and judicial opinions from courts of law. When deciding a case, the courts make interpretations of the law, which contribute to case law. Case law is published in various ways (law reports and journals, court websites, legal databases).

Interim and precautionary measures
EU case law
While European Union (EU) law is to be applied by any court of the Member States (be it a national, regional or local court), the European Court of Justice ensures that the interpretation and application of EU law is observed and interpreted in the same way in all Member States. Thus, the EU case law is mainly developed by the European Court of Justice.
European Case Law Identifier (ECLI)
The European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) has been developed to facilitate the correct and unequivocal citation of judgments from European and national courts. A set of uniform metadata will help to improve search facilities for case law.
ECLI search engine
Welcome to the ECLI search engine of the European e-Justice Portal. This function allows you to search for legal decisions/judgments with an assigned ECLI identifier.
Member State case law
The courts of the Member States of the European Union (EU) apply and interpret the law of the relevant Member States as well as EU law. Therefore, it is in the interest of citizens and legal practitioners to have access not only to case law of their own Member State, but also to that of other EU Member States.
International case law
The international community has established a number of courts for solving disputes regarding international law. Their legal nature varies and the scope of jurisdiction and binding effect of their case law largely depends on the relevant founding act.