Judgment_paragraph 61 · Jean-Marie Le Pen v European Parliament (T-353/00)

61The Parliament challenges the validity of the finding of the President of the Court of First Instance in the proceedings for interim relief in the present case that ‘it cannot be excluded that Parliament has, at least, a power to verify whether the procedure laid down by the national law applicable in the case has been observed, and also, where appropriate, whether the fundamental rights of the Member of Parliament in question have been respected’ (order of 26 January 2001, cited above, paragraph 63). It states that the Rules of Procedure must be read in the light of the Treaties and the 1976 Act and asserts that it has no discretion or power to verify laws, regulations and other acts adopted by the national authorities. That situation results not merely from the principle of conferred powers but also from ‘a fundamental principle of public international law’. It points out, in particular in that regard, that it is settled case-law in relation to references for a preliminary ruling that it is not for the Court of Justice to verify whether the decision whereby a matter is brought before it was taken in accordance with the rules of national law governing the organisation of the courts and their procedure, and that it must therefore adhere to the decision ordering a reference (Case C-10/92 Balocchi [1993] ECR I-5105, paragraph 16). The International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of International Justice have exercised the same restraint in relation to national law.