Opinion of Mr Advocate General Capotorti

Mr President,

Members of the Court,

1. The question of admissibility in both the present cases arises on two grounds: the first because the prescribed period for bringing proceedings was not observed and the second because there was no lawyer. I shall consider them in that order.

2. The significance of the matters which occurred after dispatch of the applications on 15 July 1978 remains to be determined. It is clear that following a telephone call on 20 July, the content of which is unknown, the Deputy Registrar of the Court, by letter dated 21 July, returned the two applications to the companies concerned together with a copy of the Rules of Procedure afin que vous puissiez vous conformer aux dispositions des articles 37 et 38. The applicants interpreted this letter as an exercise of the power which the Registrar has under Article 38 (7) of the rules and considered that in this way they were brought within the time-limits. Fresh applications with a similar content but this time signed by a lawyer were dispatched on 21 September 1978 and received at the Registry on 2 October.

3. The second reason giving rise to the question of the admissibility of the applications by A.L.A. and A.L.F.E.R. lies in the fact that the original applications where not signed by lawyers but by the legal representatives of the two companies. The second paragraph of Article 20 of the Statute of the Court (ECSC) provides: Undertakings and all other natural or legal persons must be assisted by a lawyer entitled to practise before a court of a Member State. Article 37 (1) of the Rules of Procedure in turn provides The original of every pleading shall be signed by the party's agent or lawyer Article 38 (3) provides that the lawyer acting for a party must lodge at the Registry a certificate that he is entitled te practise before a court of a Member State.

4. I therefore conclude by proposing that the Court should uphold the objections made by the Commission and declare the applications made by the companies A.L.A. and A.L.F.E.R. inadmissible.

1 Translated from the Italian.