fbpx
Wikipedia

Advocate general (European Union)

January 05, 2023

In the European Union, the advocates general (French: avocats généraux, singular: avocat général) are high-ranking functionaries serving in the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Modelled after the French commissaire du gouvernement [fr], the position of advocate general was created together with the European Court of Justice in 1951, when the Treaty of Paris was signed.

The advocate general participates in the court cases and may question the parties, after which they craft their opinions, though in the case when no new point of law is raised, it is not needed. It is only after their opinion that the Court of Justice starts to make its judgment. While the advocate general's opinion is not binding for the ECJ nor for the courts in the member states, their conclusions are often taken into consideration and are often indicative of the ruling by the Court of Justice in the case.[1][2][3]

Since 2020, there are eleven advocates general appointed for six-year terms, five of whom are elected from the largest member states in the EU (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland) and the other six members are appointed between the other member states. The first advocate general, who is tasked with assigning the cases to her or himself or their fellow advocates general and has some powers related to judicial review of the General Court cases, is elected for a three-year term among these eleven people. Ad hoc advocates general may also be appointed for cases before the General Court among the judges working in the court, but this possibility is not used now.

Legal basis

The signing of the Treaty of Paris established the European Coal and Steel Community, i.a. featuring a judicial body called the "Court of Justice". During negotiations that led to its signing, the French delegation resented the possibility of dissenting or concurring opinions on the cases.[3] Therefore, Maurice Lagrange, part of the delegation who would later become the first advocate general appointed to the court,[4] proposed that such views be presented by an advocate general, who would perform a similar function to that of the French commissaire du gouvernement [fr] (equivalent to the rapporteur public [fr] since 2009).[5][6][7] The commissaire is tasked with offering legal advice to the Conseil d'État, the highest administrative court. This vision was implemented in the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice as signed in 1951 and has stayed virtually the same ever since.

Composition

Currently, according to the provisions in Article 19 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU) and Article 252 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the European Court of Justice, apart from 27 judges (one for every member state), also has eleven advocates general.[8][9] The European Council, acting unanimously, may increase this number if requested so by the ECJ.[10]

When the Court of Justice was formed, it was decided to appoint two advocates general, one from Germany and the other from France. The United Kingdom and Italy joined in 1973, Spain followed in 1995[11] and Poland did so in 2013.[12] Because the UK left the European Union in 2020, there are now five member states (the most populated ones) entitled to appoint their own advocates general.[9] Other member states appoint advocates general on a rotational basis (one in 1981–1986, two in 1986–1995, four in 1995–2000, three in 2000–2015, five in 2015–2020 and six since 2020).[3][11][12] Each advocate general serves a six-year term, may be reappointed and, barring disciplinary removal or resignation, is not removable during the term;[7] however, given the rotational nature of the appointments from countries without a permanent member, these extensions are effectively limited to the five countries that may send their own advocates general. If the position is vacated before the end of the term, a replacement is appointed for the remainder of the term, usually from the same country.

Since 1974, the first advocate general has been elected from those serving in such capacity.[13] Since 1979, they are in charge of distributing the cases among fellow advocates general.[3] For three decades after its creation, the position was rotated between each of the advocates general,[6] but Melchior Wathelet was the first person to have been elected more than two times and the first to have served consecutive terms. In November 2019, the rules of procedure were changed so that the terms were increased to three years.[14] The first election under the new rules happened in October 2021, when Maciej Szpunar, who had already been serving in that position for three years, was elected to serve for another three years.[15] The first advocate general, however, is not above the other advocates general and is in most regards in the same position as their ten other colleagues.[7]

Criteria of appointment

Advocates general share the criteria of appointment with the judges (mentioned in articles 2–4 of the Statute of the ECJ and in Article 253 of TFEU). They are appointed by mutual accord of the national governments after consultations with a special panel (a so-called "Article 255 panel") that screens the candidates and issues non-binding opinions on their suitability for office;[16][a] The advocates general should be eligible for service in the highest national courts or be lawyers "of recognised competence", and should exhibit independence. Just like the judges, the advocates general take an oath of office and are in general immune from legal persecution. They are barred from holding political or administrative offices and may only hold occupations other than that at the Court of Justice if the European Council decides to grant an exemption.

Procedure and assignment

The procedure in cases before the ECJ is to assign the responsible judge-rapporteur and advocate general, which is done by the President of the ECJ and the first advocate general, respectively.[3][8] In general, the first advocate general has full discretion over the way the cases are assigned, but several informal rules guide the process.[7] For instance, arrangements in which certain advocates general specialise in one particular broad topic are often avoided so that the cases can be approached from different perspectives and thus give more material from which the Court of Justice may draw its conclusions. This rule is, however, not strictly followed, particularly if the advocate general has been treating that specific topic extensively.[6][7] It is also customary for the first advocate general not to assign an advocate general to the case to which the member state, which the advocate general is from, is party. Deviations from that guideline may attract controversy.[17]

Historically, every case had to receive an advocate general's opinion; however, since the Treaty of Nice came to life in 2003, a rule was introduced saying that if the case makes no new point of law (which in 2015, when the latest figures are available, happened in 43% of the cases, with earlier years' estimates ranging from 30% to 53%),[18][19] the advocate general's opinion is not needed; in this case, the court consults the advocate general and, if they agree, only the court's judgment is issued.[20] When the case comes to the Grand Chamber, however, it is always accompanied with such an opinion.[19] The advocate general is obliged to submit his opinion so many times as oral hearings are requested, such that in one of the cases, Commission v. Belgium (Belgian Waste), three opinions were issued;[6] situations when more than one hearing is made, however, happen rarely.[3]

According to the Article 20 of the Statute of the ECJ, the designated advocate general is present during the interactions with the parties. All advocates general may additionally receive advance copies of the judgment and participate in the closed sessions when the ECJ delivers an opinion, but, unlike the judges, they do not participate in the deliberative process of the court.[7]

Opinions of the advocates general

An advocate general, according to Takis Trimidas,[6] serves several purposes. The advocate general helps prepare the case for the Court of Justice. Moreover, their opinions provide the proposed solution and logical reasoning to reach the conclusion presented, all while providing research on the existing case law as well as on the legal points presented.[1]

Contrary to the judgments of the ECJ, which tend to be terse and abstract, a legacy of the French judicial discourse,[5] the opinion of the advocate general does not need to conform to these criteria, and may in fact take any form the advocate general wishes.[21] Historically, particularly until the 1980s, the opinions of the advocates general closely followed the judicial interpretations of the ECJ, but since then, the rulings have become somewhat less reverential towards them.[4]

The opinions may be written in the native language of the Advocate General (any of the 24 official languages of the European Union),[3] though in order to reduce the workload of the translation service, they are now increasingly drafted in one of the five so-called "pivot languages", that is: French, English, German, Spanish and Italian, and the advocates general are particularly encouraged to write in the first two of them.[22] Advocate General's submissions, if needed, are then translated into French, the working language of the ECJ.[23] The judgment of the ECJ is only drafted after receiving advocate general's opinion, though some preparations are possible if the judge rapporteur and his référendaires (clerks) understand the language of the procedure.[23]

The Court of Justice is not bound by the opinions of the Advocates General and need not even address them. In fact, in 2004–2005, only 39% of judgments cited the opinion of the advocate general[17] (the percentage was around 46% in 2017).[24] However, the advocate general's opinions are considered influential.[1] Quantitative studies seem to support the notion. The one from 2017 found that, among the 109 judgments surveyed, 64% agreed in principle with the ruling, 9% disagreed and the rest only agreed in some points; moreover, in 69% of the cases, there were at most slight differences between the interpretations of the legal sources.[24] Another study, which only analysed annulments, found that the ECJ was 67% more likely to strike down parts of an act or the whole act if the advocate general indicated their support for the action, compared to the situations where the opposite was true, though the paper cautioned against making causal inferences.[25]

List of advocates general of ECJ

See also: List of members of the European Court of Justice

Note: Current advocates general are bolded; the expected end of their terms is mentioned in italics.

Country First and last name Years of service
Start End As First AG
  France Maurice Lagrange 1952 1964
  Germany Karl Roemer [de] 1953 1973
  France Joseph Gand 1964 1970
  France Alain Louis Dutheillet de Lamothe 1970 1972
  France Henri Mayras 1972 1981 1975–1976
  Italy Alberto Trabucchi [it] 1973 1976 1974–1975
  United Kingdom Jean-Pierre Warner 1973 1981 1976–1977

1979–1980

  Germany Gerhard Reischl [de] 1973 1984 1977–1978

1980–1981

  Italy Francesco Capotorti [it] 1976 1982 1978–1979

1981–1982

  United Kingdom Gordon Slynn 1981 1988 1983–1984
  France Simone Rozès [fr] 1981 1984 1982–1983
  Netherlands Pieter verLoren van Themaat 1981 1986 1984–1985
  Italy Giuseppe Federico Mancini [it] 1982 1988 1985–1986
  Germany Carl Otto Lenz 1984 1997 1986–1987

1992–1993

  France Marco Darmon [de] 1984 1994 1987–1988

1993–1994

  Luxembourg Jean Mischo 1986 1991 1988–1989
  Portugal José Luís da Cruz Vilaça [de] 1986 1988
  Belgium Walter van Gerven 1988 1994 1989–1990
  United Kingdom Francis Geoffrey Jacobs 1988 2006 1990–1991

1994–1995

  Italy Giuseppe Tesauro 1988 1998 1991–1992

1995–1996

  Denmark Claus Christian Gulmann 1991 1994
  Greece Georges Cosmas 1994 2000 1997–1998
  Denmark Michael Bendik Elmer 1994 1997
  France Philippe Léger [de] 1994 2006 1998–1999
  Italy Antonio Mario La Pergola 1995 1999 1996–1997
  Ireland Nial Fennelly 1995 2000 1999–2000
  Spain Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer 1995 2009 2000–2001
  Germany Siegbert Alber 1997 2003 2001–2002
  Luxembourg Jean Mischo 1997 2003 2002–2003
  Italy Antonio Saggio 1998 2000
  Italy Antonio Tizzano 2000 2006 2003–2004
  Netherlands Ad Geelhoed 2000 2006 2004–2005
  Austria Christine Stix-Hackl 2000 2006 2005–2006
  Germany Juliane Kokott 2003 2027 2006–2007
  Portugal Miguel Poiares Maduro 2003 2009 2007–2008
  United Kingdom Eleanor Sharpston 2006 2020 2008–2009
  Italy Paolo Mengozzi 2006 2018 2009–2010
  France Yves Bot 2006 2019 2010–2011
  Slovakia Ján Mazák [sk] 2006 2012 2011–2012
  Slovenia Verica Trstenjak 2006 2012
  Finland Niilo Jääskinen 2009 2015 2012–2013
  Spain Pedro Cruz Villalón 2009 2015 2013–2014
  Belgium Melchior Wathelet 2012 2018 2014–2018
  Sweden Nils Wahl [sv] 2012 2018
  Poland Maciej Szpunar 2013 2024 2018–2024
  Czech Republic Michal Bobek 2015 2021
  Denmark Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe [da] 2015 2021
  Spain Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona 2015 2027
  Bulgaria Evgeni Tanchev [bg] 2016 2021
  Ireland Gerard Hogan 2018 2021
  Italy Giovanni Pitruzzella [it] 2018 2024
  Estonia Priit Pikamäe 2019 2025
  Greece Athanasios Rantos [el] 2020 2027
  France Jean Richard de la Tour 2020 2024
  Ireland Anthony Collins 2021 2024
  Latvia Laila Medina 2021 2027
  Cyprus Nicholas Emiliou 2021 2027
  Croatia Tamara Ćapeta 2021 2027

General Court

In the General Court, unlike the European Court of Justice, there are no specifically designated advocates general, and those serving in the ECJ may not be used for General Court's purposes.[26] However, according to Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court, those judges who are not the president, the vice-president or the presidents of chambers of the General Court may be asked to serve as advocates general for a particular case, with the procedure, functions and duties similar to those as in ECJ. These judges, just like in the higher chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union, may not take part in the judgment of the case (Article 49 of the Statute of the Court of Justice) but may participate in the inquiry of the case and in the questioning of parties. In practice, though, the General Court does not use that power anymore.[26]

Despite the fact that none of the advocates general of the ECJ issue opinions in the cases in front of the General Court, the first advocate general may trigger a special review procedure under Article 62 of the Statute of the ECJ (Réexamen in French)[27] by filing an appropriate request within a month's time since the General Court's ruling in case they believe that the ruling of the General Court has a high risk of "the unity of consistency of Union law being affected". As of October 2021, the procedure has been used 16 times, and 8 cases proceeded to the review stage.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Though formally non-binding, the opinions have so far been heeded and, as Dumbrovsky et al. say, are de facto binding.

External links

  • Relevant paragraphs from the original Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice, annexed to the Treaty of Paris (in French)
  • Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (as of August 2016)
  • Rules of Procedure of the General Court (as of April 2015)

References

  1. ^ a b c Właź, Aureliusz (2021-10-10). "Instytucje Unii Europejskiej" (PDF) (in Polish). p. 26. (PDF) from the original on 2018-11-04. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  2. ^ O'Leary, Naomi. "Irish judge appointed as advocate general to Courts of Justice of EU". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Mańko, Rafał (October 2019). "Role of Advocates General at the CJEU" (PDF). European Parliamentary Research Service. (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  4. ^ a b Clément-Wilz, Laure (2012). "The Advocate General: A Key Actor of the Court of Justice of the European Union". Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies. 14: 587–613. doi:10.5235/152888712805580435. ISSN 1528-8870. S2CID 155764411.
  5. ^ a b Turenne, Sophie (2012). "Advocate Generals' Opinions or Separate Opinions? Judicial Engagement in the CJEU". Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies. 14: 723–744. doi:10.5235/152888712805580309. ISSN 1528-8870. S2CID 156034977.
  6. ^ a b c d e Tridimas, Takis (1997-12-01). "The Role of the Advocate General in the Development of Community Law: Some Reflections". Common Market Law Review. 34 (6): 1349–1387. doi:10.1023/A:1018373914230.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Léger, Philippe (2004-03-21). "Law in the European Union: The role of the advocate general". The Journal of Legislative Studies. 10 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1080/1357233042000318855. ISSN 1357-2334. S2CID 154930018.
  8. ^ a b "Presentation". Court of Justice of the European Union. from the original on 2016-06-03. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  9. ^ a b "Consequences of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union for the Court of Justice of the European Union" (PDF). Court of Justice of the European Union. 2020-01-31. (PDF) from the original on 2020-02-03. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  10. ^ "The Court of Justice of the European Union" (PDF). European Parliament. (PDF) from the original on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  11. ^ a b "Joint declaration on Article 31 of the Decision adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of the new Member States to the European Union". 1995-01-01. from the original on 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  12. ^ a b "Council Decision increasing the number of Advocates-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union". European Council. 2013-06-14. from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  13. ^ "Court of Justice: Rules of Procedure". Official Journal of the European Communities. 1974-12-28. from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  14. ^ "Amendments of the Rules of the Procedure of the Court of Justice". 2019-12-06. from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  15. ^ "Mr Maciej Szpunar is elected First Advocate General of the Court of Justice" (PDF). Court of Justice of the European Union. 2021-10-08. (PDF) from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  16. ^ Dumbrovsky, Tomas; Petkova, Bilyana; Van Der Sluis, Marijn (2014). "Judicial appointments : the article 255 TFEU advisory panel and selection procedures in the Member States". Common Market Law Review. 51: 455–482. doi:10.54648/COLA2014034. ISSN 0165-0750. S2CID 153431044.
  17. ^ a b Ritter, Cyril (2006-03-29). "A New Look at the Role and Impact of Advocates-General – Collectively and Individually". Columbia Journal of European Law. Rochester, NY. 12 (3). SSRN 892970 – via SSRN.
  18. ^ "Annual Report 2015: Judicial Activity" (PDF). Court of Justice of the European Union. August 2016. (PDF) from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  19. ^ a b Bobek, Michal (2015). "The Court of Justice of the European Union". In Arnull, Anthony; Chalmers, Damian (eds.). The Oxford handbook of European Union law (1 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 153–177. ISBN 978-0-19-967264-6. OCLC 918968460.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  20. ^ Sozański, Jarosław (2010). Trybunał Sprawiedliwości (in Polish). Warsaw-Poznań: Polskie Wydawnictwo Prawnicze „Iuris”. p. 208. ISBN 978-83-89363-82-4.
  21. ^ Kulinich, Iana (2020). "SOME REMARKS ON THE LEGAL INSTITUTION OF THE ADVOCATE GENERAL". European Integration Studies. 16 (1): 81–90. ISSN 1588-6735.
  22. ^ McAuliffe, Karen (2012-03-08). "Language and law in the European Union: the multilingual jurisprudence of the ECJ". In Solan, Lawrence M.; Tiersma, Peter M. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 208. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572120.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-957212-0.
  23. ^ a b McAuliffe, Karen (2017), Nicola, Fernanda; Davies, Bill (eds.), "Behind the Scenes at the Court of Justice: Drafting EU Law Stories", EU Law Stories, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 35–57, doi:10.1017/9781316340479.003, ISBN 978-1-316-34047-9, retrieved 2021-10-10
  24. ^ a b Šadl, Urška; Sankari, Suvi (2017-01-01). "The Elusive Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice: The Case of European Citizenship". Yearbook of European Law. 36: 421–441. doi:10.1093/yel/yex001. ISSN 0263-3264.
  25. ^ Arrebola, Carlos; Mauricio, Ana Julia; Portilla, Héctor Jiménez (2016). "An Economic Analysis of the Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice of the European Union" (PDF). Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law. 5: 82–112. doi:10.4337/cilj.2016.01.05. S2CID 146742530.
  26. ^ a b Wägenbaur, Bertrand (2013). Court of Justice of the European Union : commentary on statue [sic] and rules of procedure. München: C.H. Beck. pp. 510–511. ISBN 978-3-406-60325-9. OCLC 826895523.
  27. ^ "Review decisions – list of results". InfoCuria. from the original on 2021-10-11. Retrieved 2021-10-11.

Further reading

  • Burrows, Noreen; Greaves, Rosa (2007). The Advocate General and EC Law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929900-3.
  • Moser, Philip; Sawyer, Katrine (2008-01-01). Making Community Law: The Legacy of Advocate General Jacobs at the European Court of Justice. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84844-143-9.
  • Bobek, Michal (2012). "A Fourth in the Court: Why Are There Advocates General in the Court of Justice?". Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies. 14: 529–561. doi:10.5235/152888712805580516. ISSN 1528-8870. S2CID 154709340.
  • Butler, Graham; Lazowski, Adam (2022). Shaping EU Law the British Way: UK Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Oxford: Hart Publishing/Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781509950003.

January 05, 2023
advocate, general, european, union, european, union, advocates, general, french, avocats, généraux, singular, avocat, général, high, ranking, functionaries, serving, european, court, justice, modelled, after, french, commissaire, gouvernement, position, advoca. In the European Union the advocates general French avocats generaux singular avocat general are high ranking functionaries serving in the European Court of Justice ECJ Modelled after the French commissaire du gouvernement fr the position of advocate general was created together with the European Court of Justice in 1951 when the Treaty of Paris was signed The advocate general participates in the court cases and may question the parties after which they craft their opinions though in the case when no new point of law is raised it is not needed It is only after their opinion that the Court of Justice starts to make its judgment While the advocate general s opinion is not binding for the ECJ nor for the courts in the member states their conclusions are often taken into consideration and are often indicative of the ruling by the Court of Justice in the case 1 2 3 Since 2020 there are eleven advocates general appointed for six year terms five of whom are elected from the largest member states in the EU Germany France Italy Spain and Poland and the other six members are appointed between the other member states The first advocate general who is tasked with assigning the cases to her or himself or their fellow advocates general and has some powers related to judicial review of the General Court cases is elected for a three year term among these eleven people Ad hoc advocates general may also be appointed for cases before the General Court among the judges working in the court but this possibility is not used now Contents 1 Legal basis 1 1 Composition 1 2 Criteria of appointment 2 Procedure and assignment 3 Opinions of the advocates general 4 List of advocates general of ECJ 5 General Court 6 Notes 7 External links 8 References 9 Further readingLegal basis EditThe signing of the Treaty of Paris established the European Coal and Steel Community i a featuring a judicial body called the Court of Justice During negotiations that led to its signing the French delegation resented the possibility of dissenting or concurring opinions on the cases 3 Therefore Maurice Lagrange part of the delegation who would later become the first advocate general appointed to the court 4 proposed that such views be presented by an advocate general who would perform a similar function to that of the French commissaire du gouvernement fr equivalent to the rapporteur public fr since 2009 5 6 7 The commissaire is tasked with offering legal advice to the Conseil d Etat the highest administrative court This vision was implemented in the Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice as signed in 1951 and has stayed virtually the same ever since Composition Edit Currently according to the provisions in Article 19 of the Treaty of the European Union TEU and Article 252 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TFEU the European Court of Justice apart from 27 judges one for every member state also has eleven advocates general 8 9 The European Council acting unanimously may increase this number if requested so by the ECJ 10 When the Court of Justice was formed it was decided to appoint two advocates general one from Germany and the other from France The United Kingdom and Italy joined in 1973 Spain followed in 1995 11 and Poland did so in 2013 12 Because the UK left the European Union in 2020 there are now five member states the most populated ones entitled to appoint their own advocates general 9 Other member states appoint advocates general on a rotational basis one in 1981 1986 two in 1986 1995 four in 1995 2000 three in 2000 2015 five in 2015 2020 and six since 2020 3 11 12 Each advocate general serves a six year term may be reappointed and barring disciplinary removal or resignation is not removable during the term 7 however given the rotational nature of the appointments from countries without a permanent member these extensions are effectively limited to the five countries that may send their own advocates general If the position is vacated before the end of the term a replacement is appointed for the remainder of the term usually from the same country Since 1974 the first advocate general has been elected from those serving in such capacity 13 Since 1979 they are in charge of distributing the cases among fellow advocates general 3 For three decades after its creation the position was rotated between each of the advocates general 6 but Melchior Wathelet was the first person to have been elected more than two times and the first to have served consecutive terms In November 2019 the rules of procedure were changed so that the terms were increased to three years 14 The first election under the new rules happened in October 2021 when Maciej Szpunar who had already been serving in that position for three years was elected to serve for another three years 15 The first advocate general however is not above the other advocates general and is in most regards in the same position as their ten other colleagues 7 Criteria of appointment Edit Advocates general share the criteria of appointment with the judges mentioned in articles 2 4 of the Statute of the ECJ and in Article 253 of TFEU They are appointed by mutual accord of the national governments after consultations with a special panel a so called Article 255 panel that screens the candidates and issues non binding opinions on their suitability for office 16 a The advocates general should be eligible for service in the highest national courts or be lawyers of recognised competence and should exhibit independence Just like the judges the advocates general take an oath of office and are in general immune from legal persecution They are barred from holding political or administrative offices and may only hold occupations other than that at the Court of Justice if the European Council decides to grant an exemption Procedure and assignment EditThe procedure in cases before the ECJ is to assign the responsible judge rapporteur and advocate general which is done by the President of the ECJ and the first advocate general respectively 3 8 In general the first advocate general has full discretion over the way the cases are assigned but several informal rules guide the process 7 For instance arrangements in which certain advocates general specialise in one particular broad topic are often avoided so that the cases can be approached from different perspectives and thus give more material from which the Court of Justice may draw its conclusions This rule is however not strictly followed particularly if the advocate general has been treating that specific topic extensively 6 7 It is also customary for the first advocate general not to assign an advocate general to the case to which the member state which the advocate general is from is party Deviations from that guideline may attract controversy 17 Historically every case had to receive an advocate general s opinion however since the Treaty of Nice came to life in 2003 a rule was introduced saying that if the case makes no new point of law which in 2015 when the latest figures are available happened in 43 of the cases with earlier years estimates ranging from 30 to 53 18 19 the advocate general s opinion is not needed in this case the court consults the advocate general and if they agree only the court s judgment is issued 20 When the case comes to the Grand Chamber however it is always accompanied with such an opinion 19 The advocate general is obliged to submit his opinion so many times as oral hearings are requested such that in one of the cases Commission v Belgium Belgian Waste three opinions were issued 6 situations when more than one hearing is made however happen rarely 3 According to the Article 20 of the Statute of the ECJ the designated advocate general is present during the interactions with the parties All advocates general may additionally receive advance copies of the judgment and participate in the closed sessions when the ECJ delivers an opinion but unlike the judges they do not participate in the deliberative process of the court 7 Opinions of the advocates general EditAn advocate general according to Takis Trimidas 6 serves several purposes The advocate general helps prepare the case for the Court of Justice Moreover their opinions provide the proposed solution and logical reasoning to reach the conclusion presented all while providing research on the existing case law as well as on the legal points presented 1 Contrary to the judgments of the ECJ which tend to be terse and abstract a legacy of the French judicial discourse 5 the opinion of the advocate general does not need to conform to these criteria and may in fact take any form the advocate general wishes 21 Historically particularly until the 1980s the opinions of the advocates general closely followed the judicial interpretations of the ECJ but since then the rulings have become somewhat less reverential towards them 4 The opinions may be written in the native language of the Advocate General any of the 24 official languages of the European Union 3 though in order to reduce the workload of the translation service they are now increasingly drafted in one of the five so called pivot languages that is French English German Spanish and Italian and the advocates general are particularly encouraged to write in the first two of them 22 Advocate General s submissions if needed are then translated into French the working language of the ECJ 23 The judgment of the ECJ is only drafted after receiving advocate general s opinion though some preparations are possible if the judge rapporteur and his referendaires clerks understand the language of the procedure 23 The Court of Justice is not bound by the opinions of the Advocates General and need not even address them In fact in 2004 2005 only 39 of judgments cited the opinion of the advocate general 17 the percentage was around 46 in 2017 24 However the advocate general s opinions are considered influential 1 Quantitative studies seem to support the notion The one from 2017 found that among the 109 judgments surveyed 64 agreed in principle with the ruling 9 disagreed and the rest only agreed in some points moreover in 69 of the cases there were at most slight differences between the interpretations of the legal sources 24 Another study which only analysed annulments found that the ECJ was 67 more likely to strike down parts of an act or the whole act if the advocate general indicated their support for the action compared to the situations where the opposite was true though the paper cautioned against making causal inferences 25 List of advocates general of ECJ EditSee also List of members of the European Court of Justice Note Current advocates general are bolded the expected end of their terms is mentioned in italics Country First and last name Years of serviceStart End As First AG France Maurice Lagrange 1952 1964 Germany Karl Roemer de 1953 1973 France Joseph Gand 1964 1970 France Alain Louis Dutheillet de Lamothe 1970 1972 France Henri Mayras 1972 1981 1975 1976 Italy Alberto Trabucchi it 1973 1976 1974 1975 United Kingdom Jean Pierre Warner 1973 1981 1976 1977 1979 1980 Germany Gerhard Reischl de 1973 1984 1977 1978 1980 1981 Italy Francesco Capotorti it 1976 1982 1978 1979 1981 1982 United Kingdom Gordon Slynn 1981 1988 1983 1984 France Simone Rozes fr 1981 1984 1982 1983 Netherlands Pieter verLoren van Themaat 1981 1986 1984 1985 Italy Giuseppe Federico Mancini it 1982 1988 1985 1986 Germany Carl Otto Lenz 1984 1997 1986 1987 1992 1993 France Marco Darmon de 1984 1994 1987 1988 1993 1994 Luxembourg Jean Mischo 1986 1991 1988 1989 Portugal Jose Luis da Cruz Vilaca de 1986 1988 Belgium Walter van Gerven 1988 1994 1989 1990 United Kingdom Francis Geoffrey Jacobs 1988 2006 1990 1991 1994 1995 Italy Giuseppe Tesauro 1988 1998 1991 1992 1995 1996 Denmark Claus Christian Gulmann 1991 1994 Greece Georges Cosmas 1994 2000 1997 1998 Denmark Michael Bendik Elmer 1994 1997 France Philippe Leger de 1994 2006 1998 1999 Italy Antonio Mario La Pergola 1995 1999 1996 1997 Ireland Nial Fennelly 1995 2000 1999 2000 Spain Damaso Ruiz Jarabo Colomer 1995 2009 2000 2001 Germany Siegbert Alber 1997 2003 2001 2002 Luxembourg Jean Mischo 1997 2003 2002 2003 Italy Antonio Saggio 1998 2000 Italy Antonio Tizzano 2000 2006 2003 2004 Netherlands Ad Geelhoed 2000 2006 2004 2005 Austria Christine Stix Hackl 2000 2006 2005 2006 Germany Juliane Kokott 2003 2027 2006 2007 Portugal Miguel Poiares Maduro 2003 2009 2007 2008 United Kingdom Eleanor Sharpston 2006 2020 2008 2009 Italy Paolo Mengozzi 2006 2018 2009 2010 France Yves Bot 2006 2019 2010 2011 Slovakia Jan Mazak sk 2006 2012 2011 2012 Slovenia Verica Trstenjak 2006 2012 Finland Niilo Jaaskinen 2009 2015 2012 2013 Spain Pedro Cruz Villalon 2009 2015 2013 2014 Belgium Melchior Wathelet 2012 2018 2014 2018 Sweden Nils Wahl sv 2012 2018 Poland Maciej Szpunar 2013 2024 2018 2024 Czech Republic Michal Bobek 2015 2021 Denmark Henrik Saugmandsgaard Oe da 2015 2021 Spain Manuel Campos Sanchez Bordona 2015 2027 Bulgaria Evgeni Tanchev bg 2016 2021 Ireland Gerard Hogan 2018 2021 Italy Giovanni Pitruzzella it 2018 2024 Estonia Priit Pikamae 2019 2025 Greece Athanasios Rantos el 2020 2027 France Jean Richard de la Tour 2020 2024 Ireland Anthony Collins 2021 2024 Latvia Laila Medina 2021 2027 Cyprus Nicholas Emiliou 2021 2027 Croatia Tamara Capeta 2021 2027General Court EditIn the General Court unlike the European Court of Justice there are no specifically designated advocates general and those serving in the ECJ may not be used for General Court s purposes 26 However according to Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court those judges who are not the president the vice president or the presidents of chambers of the General Court may be asked to serve as advocates general for a particular case with the procedure functions and duties similar to those as in ECJ These judges just like in the higher chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not take part in the judgment of the case Article 49 of the Statute of the Court of Justice but may participate in the inquiry of the case and in the questioning of parties In practice though the General Court does not use that power anymore 26 Despite the fact that none of the advocates general of the ECJ issue opinions in the cases in front of the General Court the first advocate general may trigger a special review procedure under Article 62 of the Statute of the ECJ Reexamen in French 27 by filing an appropriate request within a month s time since the General Court s ruling in case they believe that the ruling of the General Court has a high risk of the unity of consistency of Union law being affected As of October 2021 the procedure has been used 16 times and 8 cases proceeded to the review stage 3 Notes Edit Though formally non binding the opinions have so far been heeded and as Dumbrovsky et al say are de facto binding External links EditRelevant paragraphs from the original Protocol on the Statute of the Court of Justice annexed to the Treaty of Paris in French Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union as of August 2016 Rules of Procedure of the General Court as of April 2015 References Edit a b c Wlaz Aureliusz 2021 10 10 Instytucje Unii Europejskiej PDF in Polish p 26 Archived PDF from the original on 2018 11 04 Retrieved 2021 10 10 O Leary Naomi Irish judge appointed as advocate general to Courts of Justice of EU The Irish Times Retrieved 2021 10 10 a b c d e f g h Manko Rafal October 2019 Role of Advocates General at the CJEU PDF European Parliamentary Research Service Archived PDF from the original on 2020 09 27 Retrieved 2021 10 09 a b Clement Wilz Laure 2012 The Advocate General A Key Actor of the Court of Justice of the European Union Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 14 587 613 doi 10 5235 152888712805580435 ISSN 1528 8870 S2CID 155764411 a b Turenne Sophie 2012 Advocate Generals Opinions or Separate Opinions Judicial Engagement in the CJEU Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 14 723 744 doi 10 5235 152888712805580309 ISSN 1528 8870 S2CID 156034977 a b c d e Tridimas Takis 1997 12 01 The Role of the Advocate General in the Development of Community Law Some Reflections Common Market Law Review 34 6 1349 1387 doi 10 1023 A 1018373914230 a b c d e f Leger Philippe 2004 03 21 Law in the European Union The role of the advocate general The Journal of Legislative Studies 10 1 1 8 doi 10 1080 1357233042000318855 ISSN 1357 2334 S2CID 154930018 a b Presentation Court of Justice of the European Union Archived from the original on 2016 06 03 Retrieved 2021 10 10 a b Consequences of the United Kingdom s withdrawal from the European Union for the Court of Justice of the European Union PDF Court of Justice of the European Union 2020 01 31 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 02 03 Retrieved 2021 10 10 The Court of Justice of the European Union PDF European Parliament Archived PDF from the original on 2009 04 07 Retrieved 2021 10 10 a b Joint declaration on Article 31 of the Decision adjusting the instruments concerning the accession of the new Member States to the European Union 1995 01 01 Archived from the original on 2018 11 10 Retrieved 2021 10 10 a b Council Decision increasing the number of Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union European Council 2013 06 14 Archived from the original on 2021 10 11 Retrieved 2021 10 10 Court of Justice Rules of Procedure Official Journal of the European Communities 1974 12 28 Archived from the original on 2021 10 11 Retrieved 2021 10 10 Amendments of the Rules of the Procedure of the Court of Justice 2019 12 06 Archived from the original on 2021 10 11 Retrieved 2021 10 10 Mr Maciej Szpunar is elected First Advocate General of the Court of Justice PDF Court of Justice of the European Union 2021 10 08 Archived PDF from the original on 2021 10 08 Retrieved 2021 10 10 Dumbrovsky Tomas Petkova Bilyana Van Der Sluis Marijn 2014 Judicial appointments the article 255 TFEU advisory panel and selection procedures in the Member States Common Market Law Review 51 455 482 doi 10 54648 COLA2014034 ISSN 0165 0750 S2CID 153431044 a b Ritter Cyril 2006 03 29 A New Look at the Role and Impact of Advocates General Collectively and Individually Columbia Journal of European Law Rochester NY 12 3 SSRN 892970 via SSRN Annual Report 2015 Judicial Activity PDF Court of Justice of the European Union August 2016 Archived PDF from the original on 2016 09 24 Retrieved 2021 10 10 a b Bobek Michal 2015 The Court of Justice of the European Union In Arnull Anthony Chalmers Damian eds The Oxford handbook of European Union law 1 ed Oxford Oxford University Press pp 153 177 ISBN 978 0 19 967264 6 OCLC 918968460 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link Sozanski Jaroslaw 2010 Trybunal Sprawiedliwosci in Polish Warsaw Poznan Polskie Wydawnictwo Prawnicze Iuris p 208 ISBN 978 83 89363 82 4 Kulinich Iana 2020 SOME REMARKS ON THE LEGAL INSTITUTION OF THE ADVOCATE GENERAL European Integration Studies 16 1 81 90 ISSN 1588 6735 McAuliffe Karen 2012 03 08 Language and law in the European Union the multilingual jurisprudence of the ECJ In Solan Lawrence M Tiersma Peter M eds The Oxford Handbook of Language and Law 1 ed Oxford University Press p 208 doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199572120 001 0001 ISBN 978 0 19 957212 0 a b McAuliffe Karen 2017 Nicola Fernanda Davies Bill eds Behind the Scenes at the Court of Justice Drafting EU Law Stories EU Law Stories Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 35 57 doi 10 1017 9781316340479 003 ISBN 978 1 316 34047 9 retrieved 2021 10 10 a b Sadl Urska Sankari Suvi 2017 01 01 The Elusive Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice The Case of European Citizenship Yearbook of European Law 36 421 441 doi 10 1093 yel yex001 ISSN 0263 3264 Arrebola Carlos Mauricio Ana Julia Portilla Hector Jimenez 2016 An Economic Analysis of the Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice of the European Union PDF Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law 5 82 112 doi 10 4337 cilj 2016 01 05 S2CID 146742530 a b Wagenbaur Bertrand 2013 Court of Justice of the European Union commentary on statue sic and rules of procedure Munchen C H Beck pp 510 511 ISBN 978 3 406 60325 9 OCLC 826895523 Review decisions list of results InfoCuria Archived from the original on 2021 10 11 Retrieved 2021 10 11 Further reading EditBurrows Noreen Greaves Rosa 2007 The Advocate General and EC Law Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 929900 3 Moser Philip Sawyer Katrine 2008 01 01 Making Community Law The Legacy of Advocate General Jacobs at the European Court of Justice Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN 978 1 84844 143 9 Bobek Michal 2012 A Fourth in the Court Why Are There Advocates General in the Court of Justice Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 14 529 561 doi 10 5235 152888712805580516 ISSN 1528 8870 S2CID 154709340 Butler Graham Lazowski Adam 2022 Shaping EU Law the British Way UK Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union Oxford Hart Publishing Bloomsbury ISBN 9781509950003 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Advocate general European Union amp oldid 1120352543, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.