On upholding the right of members of the Court of Justice of the European Union to cast individual votes 

Petition addressed to: Petitionsausschuss des Europäischen Parlaments

The petitioner points out that the judges at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) cannot cast individual votes in the judgments handed down by the Court. He takes the view that this runs counter to the democratic principle of transparency, which is fundamental to the European Union. The petitioner takes the view that the CJEU should not be allowed to ignore the principle of transparency. He points out that disagreement among judges is justified when the purpose of the ruling is to resolve a difficult issue or one relating to the way in which the law should be applied in future. In other contexts, acknowledgement of individual votes cast has been used to trace the development of case-law, without undermining the powers, including the power of enforcement, that are inherent in the pronouncement of a validly adopted judgment.