By: James G. Apple,
Editor-in-Chief, International Judicial Monitor
Sometimes institutions are named courts and they are really
not courts in the traditional sense. For instance, the Permanent Court of
Arbitration in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, where the
International Court of Justice is also located, is not really a court, but an
institution that provides arbitration services for states and institutions that
want a particular controversy resolved by arbitration.
The same is true of the European Court of Auditors, created
in 1975 and formally established in October, 1977 in Luxembourg. At the time of
its creation, it was yet a formal institution; it gained legal status by the
Treaty of Maastricht, and became the “fifth institution” of the European Union.
The original mission of the ECA was auditing, overseeing the
finances of the European Communities. With its becoming part of the structure
of the official institutions of the EU, it gained the right to bring actions
before the European Court of Justice. Its powers were later expanded by the
Treaty of Amsterdam, which amended the Treat of Maastricht by adding “full
power to audit the finances of the whole of the EU.” The Court externally
checks “if the budget of the European Union has been implements correctly, in
that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management.” Its reports
are circulated among EU institutions and states. Any problems are noted, and
its annual report to the European Parliament is the basis for the European
Parliament’s approving the handling of the budget for the year of the annual
report. The Court “must be consulted before the adoption of any legislation;”
however, the Court’s response is not binding.
International
Judicial Monitor