Rule 1 - Application of the Rules and general principles of interpretation

1. The Court shall conduct proceedings in accordance with the Agreement, the Statute and these Rules, which include the Preamble to these Rules and the principles set out therein. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of the Agreement and/or the Statute on the one hand and of the Rules on the other hand, the provisions of the Agreement and/or the Statute shall prevail.

2. Where these Rules provide for the Court to perform any act other than an act exclusively reserved for a panel of the Court, the President of the Court of First Instance or the President of the Court of Appeal, that act may be performed by:

a. the presiding judge or the judge-rapporteur of the panel to which the action has been assigned;

b. a single legally qualified judge where the action has been assigned to a single judge;

c. the standing judge designated pursuant to  Rule 345.5.

3. References to persons in these Rules may apply to legal persons as well as natural persons. Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine and vice versa. Unless the contrary intention appears, words in the singular include the plural and vice versa.

Relation with Agreement: Article 8(7) 

Relation with Statute: Article 19(3) and (4) 

Case Law

Court of Appeal

IPPT20241112, UPC CoA, AIM Sport v Supponor
Rules of interpretation of the UPCA. The rules of interpretation laid down in Article 31(1) of the Vienna Convention: A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the term of the treaty and in the light of its object and purpose. The Rules of Procedure as a lower ranking instrument related to the UPCA may serve to fill a gap but cannot serve to overrule the clear meaning of a higher-ranking provision of the UPCA (R. 1(1) RoP). Preparatory work of the UPCA may be looked at only to confirm an interpretation, or to determine when the interpretation in accordance with the general rule of interpretation leaves the meaning ambiguous.