DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE DE MEYER

(Translation)

In its judgment of 3 July 1995 the Court did not expressly rule on the question of any interest that might have been due on the amounts awarded for (a) pecuniary damage and (b) costs and expenses relating to the Article 50 proceedings (art. 50), but clearly stated that those amounts had to be paid "within three months", that is to say before 3 October 1995.

In the same judgment, moreover, the Court awarded interest on the sum of 56,075 French francs (FRF) already due under the principal judgment, to run from 22 December 1994, that is from the date when the three-month time-limit laid down in the judgment of 22 September 1994 expired.

In the present judgment the Court construes its judgment of 3 July 1995 as meaning that all claims for interest on the pecuniary damage and on the costs and expenses of the Article 50 proceedings (art. 50) had been dismissed.

I cannot agree with that construction.

Obviously the majority is free to interpret the judgment of 3 July 1995 as it deems appropriate.

For my part, I consider that that judgment does not preclude an award of interest for the period subsequent to 3 October 1995.

As stated in paragraph 14 of the judgment, the Court only dismissed the claim for interest - on both the costs of the Article 50 proceedings (art. 50) and the costs of the proceedings on the merits - in so far as it was sought to have that interest paid retrospectively with effect from 22 September 1994.

However, in its judgment of 3 July 1995 the Court did award interest on the costs and expenses of the proceedings on the merits with effect from 22 December 1994, by which date the Government was required to make payment pursuant to the judgment of 22 September 1994.

Indeed, there would be little point in the Court setting a three-month time-limit for payment if there was no penalty for failure to comply.

In accordance with the general principles on this subject, which have been explicitly applied by the Court in all its judgments on Article 50 (art. 50) since January 1996, and which, moreover, were applied in the judgment of 3 July 1995 itself with respect to the costs and expenses of the judgment on the merits, my view is that the judgment of 3 July 1995 must be construed as containing an implied award in favour of the applicant of interest at the statutory rate to run from 3 October 1995 on both the sum of FRF 800,000 awarded for pecuniary damage and the sum of FRF 20,000 relating to the Article 50 proceedings (art. 50).

[1] The case is numbered 23/1993/418/497.  The first number is the case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court in the relevant year (second number).  The last two numbers indicate the case's position on the list of cases referred to the Court since its creation and on the list of the corresponding originating applications to the Commission.

[2] Rules A apply to all cases referred to the Court before the entry into force of Protocol No. 9 (P9) (1 October 1994) and thereafter only to cases concerning States not bound by that Protocol (P9).  They correspond to the Rules that came into force on 1 January 1983, as amended several times subsequently.