Based on the author’s PhD thesis, the book under review is a welcome addition to the Italian legal literature on the procedures before the EU Courts. More precisely, the book deals with third-party intervention in proceedings before the EU Courts, a situation that occurs very often and yet a topic rarely discussed in academic works. The author provides a detailed but manageable discussion of this procedural instrument which, broadly speaking, allows third parties having a sufficient interest to intervene in a case brought by other parties.
The book is divided into three chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction to the topic by framing the third-party intervention in the broader context of its role in modern legal systems and with a particular focus on some international judicature, such as the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The second chapter focuses on interventions in ‘direct actions’ by interested parties, including Member States or EU institutions (including agencies of the Union) in pending cases before the CJEU – and especially in the so-called ‘actions for annulment’ envisaged in Art. 263 TFEU. The main feature of third-party intervention is that the intervener is limited to supporting the conclusions of one of the parties and cannot raise entirely new grounds upon which neither party has relied. The final third chapter deals with third-party intervention in indirect actions before the Court, such as in the preliminary ruling procedure. Technically, this is not a real third-party intervention, as participation to preliminary procedures is limited only to those who participate in domestic proceedings and therefore intervention is granted by the President of the Court to all of them.
Overall, the book is well researched and provides a thorough analysis of the relevant case law as well as an examination of the literature on the topic. It is a welcome contribution to the understanding of the third-party intervention mechanism and practitioners involved in litigating cases before the EU courts will certainly benefit from it.
Riccardo Sciaudone
Head
Reviewed December 2013