1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of (i) Article 267 TFEU, (ii) Article 31(2) and Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), (iii) the principle of liability of Member States for infringements of EU law, (iv) Article 1(3) and Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ 2003 L 299, p. 9) and (v) clauses 2 and 4 of the Framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded on 18 March 1999 (‘the Framework Agreement’), which is annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (OJ 1999 L 175, p. 43).

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19) On 8 October 2018, the applicant requested the Giudice di pace di Bologna (magistrate of Bologna, Italy) to issue a payment order against the Governo della Repubblica italiana (Government of the Italian Republic) in the amount of EUR 4 500.00 — which, according to her, corresponded to the remuneration for the month of August 2018 which, in her view, an ordinary judge with the same length of service as herself may claim — as compensation for the damage she allegedly suffered due to a manifest infringement by the Italian State, in particular of clause 4 of the Framework Agreement, Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31 of the Charter. In the alternative, she requests that the Italian Government be ordered to pay the sum of EUR 3 039.76, on the same basis, calculated by reference to the net compensation which she received in the month of July 2018.

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24) By decision of 11 November 2019, received at the Court on 12 November 2019, the referring court decided to withdraw the fourth and fifth questions, while confirming that the first to third questions were maintained:

‘(1) Does a giudice di pace [magistrate], when making a request for a preliminary ruling, meet the definition of an ordinary European court having jurisdiction to make a request for a preliminary ruling pursuant to Article 267 TFEU, even though — in breach of the guarantees of the independence and impartiality of ordinary European courts referred to by the Court of Justice in its judgments of 19 September 2006, Wilson (C‑506/04, EU:C:2006:587, paragraphs 47 to 53); of 27 February 2018, Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portugueses (C‑64/16, EU:C:2018:117, paragraphs 32 and 41 to 45); and of 25 July 2018, Minister for Justice and Equality(Deficiencies in the system of justice) (C‑216/18 PPU, EU:C:2018:586, paragraphs 50 to 54) — under national law, magistrates do not, because of their job insecurity, enjoy working conditions equivalent to those of professional judges, even though they perform the same judicial functions and are included in the national judicial system?

(2) If question 1 is answered in the affirmative, is the work carried out by the applicant giudice di pace [magistrate] covered by the term “fixed-term worker” for the purpose of Article 1(3) and Article 7 of Directive 2003/88, read in conjunction with clause 2 of [the Framework Agreement] and Article 31(2) of [the Charter], as interpreted by the Court of Justice in its judgments of 1 March 2012, O’Brien (C‑393/10, EU:C:2012:110), and of 29 November 2017, King (C‑214/16, EU:C:2017:914) and, if so, may an ordinary or professional judge be regarded as a permanent worker indistinguishable from a giudice di pace [magistrate] working for a fixed term, for the purposes of the application of the same working conditions as referred to in clause 4 of [the Framework Agreement]?

(3) If questions 1 and 2 are answered in the affirmative, is Article 47 of [the Charter], read in conjunction with Article 267 TFEU, and in the light of the case-law of the [Court] concerning the liability of the Italian State for manifest infringement of [EU] law by courts adjudicating at last instance in the judgments of 30 September 2003, Köbler (C‑224/01, EU:C:2003:513); of 13 June 2006, Traghetti del Mediterraneo (C‑173/03, EU:C:2006:391); and of 24 November 2011, Commission v Italy (C‑379/10, [not published,] EU:C:2011:775), inconsistent with Article 2(3) and (3a) of [legge n. 117 — Risarcimento dei danni cagionati nell’esercizio delle funzioni giudiziarie e responsabilità civile dei magistrate (Law No 117 concerning compensation for damage caused in the exercise of judicial functions and the civil liability of judges) of 13 April 1988] … [(GURI No 88 of 15 April 1988)], which provides for judicial liability for intentional fault or serious misconduct “in the event of manifest infringement of the law or of European Union law” and which presents national courts with the choice — which, however it is made, gives rise to civil liability and liability to disciplinary action in relation to the State in cases in which the public authority itself is a substantive party and in particular where the adjudicator of the case is a giudice di pace [magistrate] working for a fixed term and without effective legal, economic and social security protection as in the present case — of either infringing national legislation, by disapplying it and applying EU law, as interpreted by the Court of Justice, or of infringing EU law and applying national legislation which precludes protection and is incompatible with Article 1(3) and Article 7 of Directive 2003/88, clauses 2 and 4 of [the Framework Agreement] and Article 31(2) of [the Charter]?’

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73)By contrast, it must be found, as regards the third question, that the dispute in the main proceedings does not concern the personal liability of judges but an application for compensation in respect of paid leave. The referring court has not explained in what respect there is a need for an interpretation of Article 47 of the Charter for the purposes of giving a ruling, or the link which it establishes between the EU provisions which it seeks to have interpreted and the national legislation applicable to the proceedings pending before it.

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79) By the first part of its second question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as meaning that a magistrate who carries out his or her duties as a principal activity and who receives compensation linked to the services performed and compensation for each month of actual service may fall within the concept of ‘worker’ within the meaning of those provisions.

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89) That finding applies also with regard to the interpretation of the term ‘worker’ within the meaning of Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 and of Article 31(2) of the Charter, in order that the uniform scope of the right of workers to paid leave rationae personae may be ensured (judgment of 26 March 2015, Fenoll, C‑316/13, EU:C:2015:200, paragraph 26).

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113) In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the first part of the second question is that Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as meaning that a magistrate who, in the context of his or her duties, performs real and genuine services which are neither purely marginal nor ancillary, and for which he or she receives compensation representing remuneration, may fall within the concept of ‘worker’ within the meaning of those provisions, which it is for the referring court to verify.

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164) Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.

On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:

1. Article 267 TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that the giudice di pace (magistrate, Italy) falls within the concept of ‘court or tribunal of a Member State’ within the meaning of that article.

2. Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time and Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as meaning that a magistrate who, in the context of his or her duties, performs real and genuine services which are neither purely marginal nor ancillary, and for which he or she receives compensation representing remuneration, may fall within the concept of ‘worker’ within the meaning of those provisions, which it is for the referring court to verify.

Clause 2(1) of the Framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded on 18 March 1999, which is annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP, must be interpreted as meaning that the concept of ‘fixed-term worker’ in that provision may encompass a magistrate appointed for a limited period, who, in the context of his or her duties, performs real and genuine services which are neither purely marginal nor ancillary, and for which he or she receives compensation representing remuneration, which it is for the referring court to verify.

Clause 4(1) of the Framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded on 18 March 1999, which is annexed to Directive 1999/70, must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which does not provide for an entitlement on the part of magistrates to 30 days’ paid annual leave, such as that provided for ordinary judges, where those magistrates fall within the concept of ‘fixed-term workers’ within the meaning of clause 2(1) of that framework agreement, and are in a situation comparable to that of ordinary judges, unless such a difference in treatment is justified by the differences in the qualifications required and the nature of the duties undertaken by those judges, which it is for the referring court to verify.