I have lost a local civil appeal, can I appeal to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of the EU in Luxembourg?

The ECJ in Luxembourg does not entertain appeals from citizens who are not satisfied with a decision in a local court. A person has a right to enforce both national and European law through the local judicial system. Therefore European law can be enforced in the national courts and one does not need to go to the European Court. In some cases the local court may be bound to ask the ECJ for clarification on an issue involving EU law and would itself be in breach if it does not seek help. However, irrespective of whether it is on Maltese law alone or on both Maltese and European law, the case still has to be terminated in front of the local Court of Appeal and an appeal to Luxembourg is not possible.

The ECJ of the EU in Luxembourg should not be confused with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg which is a body of the Council of Europe and not the EU.

In certain circumstances it is possible for an individual who has a human rights case to appeal to the Strasbourg Court if the redress is not satisfied by the local Court of Appeal.