''Acte clair'' is a doctrine of
European Union law, which states that if a judgment or rule of law is clear enough, then a
member state
A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation.
Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign state ...
has no duty to refer a question for
preliminary ruling
A preliminary ruling is a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of European Union law that is given in response to a request (preliminary reference) from a court or a tribunal of a member state. A preliminary rulin ...
to the
Court of Justice of the European Union
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (french: Cour de justice de l'Union européenne or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembour ...
.
The ''acte clair'' doctrine originated in the judgment of the Court of Justice in ''
Srl CILFIT v Ministry of Health'' (1982), from which developed what has been termed the 'CILFIT criteria'. Though it had initially been believed that the Court of Justice would be strict as to its application, scholarly papers claim that CILFIT criteria, although often quoted in judgments and doctrine, have been applied neither consistently nor truly rigidly by the Court. Instead, a more flexible approach to ''acte clair'' requirements is taking shape.
[See, for example, Limante, Agne. Recent Developments in the ''Acte Clair'' Case Law of the EU Court of Justice: Towards a more Flexible Approach. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2016, DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12434]
References
{{EU-law-stub
European Union law
French legal terminology