The first European Court of Justice, 1952-1958

Article 32 of the Paris Treaty provides that "The Court shall be composed of seven judges, appointed for six years by agreement among the governments of the member States from among persons of recognized independence and competence. A partial change in membership of the Court shall occur every three years, affecting alternatively three members and four members. The three members whose terms expire at the end of the first period of three years shall be designated by lot. Judges shall be eligible for reappointment. The number of judges may be increased by unanimous vote of the Council on proposal by the Court. The judges shall designate one of their number as President for a three-year term".

Two examples will explain this way of proceedings: in one of the first judgments of the Court, the "Assider versus High Authority", pronounced the 10 February 1955 and dealing with an action of the Association of Italian Siderurgic industries against a decision of the High Authority which the plaintiff claimed to be invalid for misuse of power, advocate general Karl Roemer had to explore the national law of the Six to try to give substance to the concept of "misuse of power", which was quoted in Article 33 of the ECSC Treaty, concerning the competences of the Court of Justice: "The Court shall have jurisdiction over appeals by a member State or by the Council for the annulment of decisions and recommendations of the High Authority on the grounds of lack of legal competence, substantial procedural violations, violation of the Treaty or of any rule of law relating to its application, or abuse of power". So, what was meant with the notion of "misuse of power" at a European level? A "tour of Europe" seemed to be necessary, and Roemer accomplish in his opinion an authentic exploration of this concept, sailing from the French, Belgian and Luxemburgish idea of misuse "discretional power", through the Dutch tradition of "misuse of