12As regards that plea in law, the Court of First Instance held as follows in paragraphs 39 to 42 of the judgment under appeal:39 The Court of Justice has consistently held (Case 13/69Van Eick v Commission [1970] ECR 3, paragraph 3 et seq., Case 228/83F. v Commission [1985] ECR 275, paragraph 30, and Joined Cases 175 and 209/86 M. v Council [1988] ECR 1891, paragraph 16) that the time-limits laid down in Article 7 of Annex IX to the Staff Regulations are not mandatory but constitute rules of sound administration; failure to observe those time-limits may render the institution liable for any damage caused to those concerned but does not in itself affect the validity of the disciplinary measure imposed after their expiry.40 While it is true that the Court of First Instance held in De Compte v Parliament and D v Commission, cited above, that failure to comply with the time-limits “may also result in the measures adopted after the expiry of the period being declared void”, that case-law cannot be interpreted as penalising every failure to comply with time-limits by automatic annulment. Furthermore, in each of those two cases the Court of First Instance specifically declined to declare the relevant measures void (see also Case T-12/94Daffix v Commission [1997] ECRSC II-1197, paragraphs 130 to 133).41 It follows from the foregoing that it is only the fulfilment of specific conditions that can, in specific cases, affect the validity of a disciplinary measure imposed after expiry of a time-limit. The applicant confines his argument to showing that the time-limit was actually exceeded. The Parliament, on the other hand, without being contradicted by the applicant, relies on the complexity of the disciplinary proceedings in the present case, the large number (agreed, moreover, with the applicant's legal representative) of witnesses heard and the problems and constraints encountered by the Disciplinary Board...42 Furthermore, when the appointing authority decided to commence disciplinary proceedings against the applicant, the applicant was suspended without any reduction in his salary. Following the adoption of the contested decision, he was transferred to another Directorate-General. Throughout the disciplinary proceedings the applicant therefore retained the pecuniary rights attaching to his C 1 grade without being required to be present in his former department and was thus able to avoid, without financial loss, an atmosphere which might have become difficult for him. Following those proceedings, owing to his transfer, he was not required to return to his department, but had the opportunity to enter into a new working environment and build a new reputation.’