Article 1
Protocol No 3 on the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union is hereby amended as follows: (1) the following Article is inserted: ‘Article 9a The Judges shall elect the President and the Vice-President of the Court of Justice from among their number for a term of three years. They may be re-elected. The Vice-President shall assist the President in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure. He shall take the President’s place when the latter is prevented from attending or when the office of President is vacant.’; (2) in Article 16, the second paragraph is replaced by the following: ‘The Grand Chamber shall consist of 15 Judges. It shall be presided over by the President of the Court. The Vice-President of the Court and, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure, three of the Presidents of the chambers of five Judges and other Judges shall also form part of the Grand Chamber.’; (3) in Article 17, the third and fourth paragraphs are replaced by the following: ‘Decisions of the Grand Chamber shall be valid only if 11 Judges are sitting. Decisions of the full Court shall be valid only if 17 Judges are sitting.’; (4) in Article 20, the fourth paragraph is replaced by the following: ‘The oral procedure shall consist of the hearing by the Court of agents, advisers and lawyers and of the submissions of the Advocate-General, as well as the hearing, if any, of witnesses and experts.’; (5) in Article 39, the second paragraph is replaced by the following two paragraphs: ‘The powers referred to in the first paragraph may, under the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure, be exercised by the Vice-President of the Court of Justice. Should the President and the Vice-President be prevented from attending, another Judge shall take their place under the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure.’; (6) in Article 47, the first paragraph is replaced by the following: ‘The first paragraph of Article 9, Article 9a, Articles 14 and 15, the first, second, fourth and fifth paragraphs of Article 17 and Article 18 shall apply to the General Court and its members.’; (7) in Article 62c, the following paragraph is added: ‘The European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with Article 257 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, may attach temporary Judges to the specialised courts in order to cover the absence of Judges who, while not suffering from disablement deemed to be total, are prevented from participating in the disposal of cases for a lengthy period of time. In that event, the European Parliament and the Council shall lay down the conditions under which the temporary Judges shall be appointed, their rights and duties, the detailed rules governing the performance of their duties and the circumstances in which they shall cease to perform those duties.’.