Advocate General (ECJ)
The Advocates General at the European Court of Justice support the judges of the European Court of Justice in their decision-making. There are currently eleven advocates general.
Legal basis
Article 252 of the TFEU provided for the European Court of Justice to be assisted by eight Advocates General, the number ofwhich can be increasedby the Council by unanimous decision. On the occasion of the signature of the Lisbon Treaty , Member States stated that the number of Advocates General should be increased to 11 if the Court so requested. In June 2013 it was decided to increase the number of Advocates General to nine as soon as possible and from October 2015 to 11.
task
It is the task of the Advocate General to submit a proposal for a judgment in the form of reasoned opinions after the hearing, publicly and in complete impartiality and independence, insofar as the Statute of the Court of Justice requires his participation. His job is therefore not comparable to that of a public prosecutor. Rather, his Opinion can be compared to a certain extent with a hypothetical first-instance assessment which is immediately submitted to an imaginary next instance, in this case the actual section of the Court of Justice. To this end, the Advocate General summarizes the previous case law of the ECJ in similar cases and uses it to justify his ideas regarding the assessment of the present case. The Advocate General is not the representative of either party, but should develop his proposal independently and neutrally. The ECJ is not bound by these proposals, but in fact it follows the proposals of the Advocate General in around three quarters of all cases.
Oral hearing and opinion in the procedure
The Court of Justice, on the report of the Judge-Rapporteur and after hearing the Advocate General, decides whether the case requires the taking of evidence, to which panel the case is assigned and whether there will be an oral hearing. In the oral hearing before the ECJ, the parties present their statements to the panel and the advocate general. The judges and the Advocate General may ask the parties any questions they deem appropriate. A few weeks later, again in public, the Advocate General delivered his Opinion to the Court of Justice. In it he deals in particular with the legal questions of the dispute and, in complete independence, proposes to the Court of Justice the decision which, in his opinion, should be given in the dispute. This concludes the oral procedure. If a case does not raise new questions of law, the Court of Justice, after hearing the Advocate General, may decide to rule without an Opinion.
List of Advocates General
Advocates-General are by a unanimous decision of the Governments of the Member States after consulting the committee referred Art. 255 TFEU appointed expert committee formed, which de facto of a unanimous decision Council of the European Union equivalent. The six large Member States, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, have a permanent Advocate General. The remaining five Advocates General will be staffed on a rotation basis with representatives from the small Member States. The following order is currently planned: Sweden, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Romania.
The following list contains all persons who were or are working as advocates general at the European Court of Justice as of August 2019. The names of the eleven currently serving Advocates General are highlighted in bold .
Web links
- Page of the European Court of Justice, short CV of the judges and advocates general with picture
- Appointment of judges and advocates general on April 6, 2006
- Appointment of judges and advocates general on February 25, 2009
- Appointment of judges and advocates general on April 25, 2012
- Appointment of judges and advocates general on June 20, 2012
- Appointment of judges and advocates general on February 28, 2018
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Declaration by the Conference of Member States on Art. 222 TFEU (PDF; 11 kB)
- ↑ Press release (PDF; 215 kB) from June 25, 2013. Accessed on October 23, 2013.
- ↑ see e.g. B. Master's thesis by Branislav Urbanič (Berlin) , p. 32 with evidence contained therein
- ^ Page of the European Court of Justice, List of Judges and Advocates General , accessed on September 20, 2016.