Presentation of the Members

Koen Lenaerts
Koen Lenaerts
President
Biography and career

Born 1954 in Mortsel (Belgium), Koen Lenaerts obtained a law degree in 1977 from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) before continuing his studies at Harvard University, USA, where he obtained a Master of Laws in 1978 and a Master in Public Administration in 1979. Returning to Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, he became a Doctor of Laws in 1982.

It was at that same university that he started his professional career in 1979 as a lecturer before becoming a Professor of European Law in 1983. During his university career, he also taught at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) from 1984 to 1989 and as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, USA, in 1989.

Mr Lenaerts began his career at the Court of Justice as a legal secretary to Judge René Joliet, a post which he held from 1984 to 1985 before working as a lawyer at the Brussels Bar from 1986 to 1989.

He was appointed as a Judge at the Court of First Instance of the European Communities on 25 September 1989, the date on which that newly created court was established. He served in that capacity for more than 14 years before being appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2003. He was elected by his peers to the office of President of Chamber for two successive terms from 9 October 2006 to 8 October 2012 and subsequently to the office of Vice-President of the Court of Justice on 9 October 2012.

He was elected as President of the Court of Justice on 8 October 2015 and has held that office since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Academia Europaea, London
  • Member of the Advisory Council of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre of Law and Governance in Europe, University College London
  • Member of the Governing Board of the Foundation of the Academy of European Law (ERA), Trier
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Heidelberg
  • Member of the editorial committee of Europarecht
  • Member of the editorial committee of the European Law Review
  • Member of the editorial committee of International Comparative Jurisprudence, Mykolo Romerio universitetas
  • Member of the editorial committee of S.E.W. Tijdschrift voor Europees en economisch recht
  • Member of the scientific committee of Cahiers de droit européen
  • Member of the scientific committee of the Columbia Journal of European Law
  • Member of the scientific committee of the European Constitutional Law Review
  • Member of the scientific committee of European Public Law
  • Member of the scientific committee of Europejski Przegląd Sądowy
  • Member of the editorial committee of actualidad administrativa
  • Member of the editorial committee of EStAL (European State Aid Law Quarterly)
  • Member of the scientific committee of the European Journal of Human Rights
  • Member of the scientific committee of the Lex ET Scientia International Journal (LESIJ), Universitatea Nicolae Titulescu din Bucuresti
  • Member of the scientific committee of Concurrences, Revue des droits de la concurrence
  • Member of the scientific committee of the World Competition. Law and Economics Review
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the EU Tax Review
  • Member of the honorary committee of Revista Română de Drept European
Honorary titles and awards
  • Title of nobility: Baron (2005)
  • Distinguished Helen DeRoy Fellow, University of Michigan Law School (2005)
  • Honorary Master of the Bench of the Inner Temple, London (2010)
  • Doctor honoris causa, université de Poitiers (2016)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Mykolo Romerio universitetas (2017)
  • Doctor honoris causa, université de Namur (2017)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Universitatea Nicolae Titulescu din Bucuresti (2017)
  • All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values (2017)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Sofijski universitet ‘Sveti Kliment Ohridski’ (2018)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Universiteti Europian i Tiranës (2018)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Vilniaus universitetas (2022)
  • Doctor honoris causa, Universitatea ‘Alexandru Ioan Cuza’ din Iaşi (2023)
Lars Bay Larsen
Lars Bay Larsen
Vice-President
Biography and career

Born in 1953 in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen (Denmark), Mr Lars Bay Larsen studied at the Københavns Universitet (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). He graduated in political science in 1976. In 1978, he returned to study at the same university, this time enrolling in the Faculty of Law, where he obtained a law degree in 1983.

After leaving the university, he was appointed as an official at the Danish Ministry of Justice where he worked from 1983 to 1985. From 1985 to 1986, he was Head of Section at the Advokatsamfund (Danish Bar Association). After returning to the Danish Ministry of Justice, he served successively as Head of Section from 1986 to 1991, Head of Division from 1991 to 1995, Head of the Police Department from 1995 to 1999, and Head of the Law Department from 2000 to 2003. During that period, he was also Representative of the Kingdom of Denmark on the K4 Committee from 1995 to 2000, the Schengen Central Group from 1996 to 1998, and the Europol Management Board from 1998 to 2000. He was called to the Bar in Denmark in 1991 and, in 2003, his career turned to the judiciary. At that time, he joined the Højesteret (Supreme Court, Denmark) where he served as a judge until 2006.

Mr Bay Larsen's career also illustrates the fruitful complementarity between practice and teaching, since he was a lecturer from 1984 to 1991 and then, from 1991 to 1996, an associate professor in family law at the Københavns Universitet. Since 2008, he has been a lecturer in European criminal law at the université du Luxembourg (University of Luxembourg).

Mr Bay Larsen has been a Judge at the Court of Justice since 11 January 2006. Having been elected by his peers to the position of President of Chamber, he performed that function for two successive terms, from 9 October 2012 to 8 October 2018. Since 8 October 2021, Mr Bay Larsen is Vice-President of the institution.

Honorary titles and awards
  • Ridder af 1. grad af Dannebrogordenen (Knight 1st Class of the Order of Dannebrog) (2002)
Alexander Arabadjiev
Alexander Arabadjiev
President of the First Chamber
Biography and career

Born 1949 in Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria), Alexander Arabadjiev studied law at Sofiyski universitet ‘Sv. Kliment Ohridski’ (Sofia University ‘St Kliment Ohridski’, Bulgaria), from which he graduated in 1972.

In 1975, he was appointed as a judge at the Rayonen sad Blagoevgrad (District Court, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria) and served in that capacity until 1983, the year in which he joined the Okrazhen sad Blagoevgrad (Regional Court, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria), where he held office until 1986. He then served at the Varhoven sad (Supreme Court, Bulgaria) between 1986 and 1991 and at the Konstitutsionen sad (Constitutional Court, Bulgaria) from 1991 to 2000. He was a member of the European Commission of Human Rights from 1997 to 1999.

Between 2001 and 2006, he temporarily interrupted his legal career in order to devote himself to the process of Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union, a process in which he actively participated as a Member of the Bulgarian Parliament and as an observer at the European Parliament from August 2005 to December 2006. From 2002 to 2003, he was involved in the drawing up of policy responses to the future challenges for the European Union in the context of the 2004 enlargement as a member of the Convention on the Future of Europe.

On 12 January 2007, a few days after Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union, Mr Arabadjiev was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice and has served in that capacity since then. Elected as President of Chamber by his peers, he has held that office at the Court since 9 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • President of the Board of Directors of the Balgarska asotsiatsia po pravo na Evropeyskia sayuz
  • President of the organising committee of the ‘2022’ Congress of the International Federation of European Law (FIDE), which will take place in Bulgaria
Honorary titles and awards
  • Order of ‘Stara Planina, First Class’ (decree of 18 December 2009 of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria)
Alexandra (Sacha) Prechal
Alexandra (Sacha) Prechal
President of the Second Chamber
Biography and career

Born in 1959 in Prague (Czechoslovakia), MsAlexandra (Sacha) Prechal obtained a degree in Dutch public law at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen, Netherlands) in 1983 and a Doctor of Laws at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) in 1995.

Her academic career began in 1983: her legal studies led her to become a Law Lecturer in the Law Faculty of the Universiteit Maastricht (University of Maastricht, Netherlands) until 1987, a position she held again from 1991 to 1995 at the Europa Institute of the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. She then became Professor of European Law in the Law Faculty of the University of Tilburg (University of Tilburg, Netherlands) from 1995 to 2003, and then in the Law Faculty of the Universiteit Utrecht (University of Utrecht, Netherlands). From 2003, she has been teaching a large number of students and conducting research in various areas of EU law. Since then, she has also been actively involved in higher education and research management, in particular as member of the management board of the Europa Institute of the University of Utrecht. From 1992 to 2007, she was scientific coordinator of the European Network of Legal Experts in Equality between Men and Women at the European Commission.

Her expertise is shown not only through the publication of numerous articles but is also reflected in her commitment to law as a member of the editorial board of several national and international legal journals. Her skills have been recognised by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (Royal Netherlands Acacemy of Science) of which she became a member in 2008.

Between 1987 and 1991, she assisted Judges Thijmen Koopmans and Paul Kapteyn successively as Legal Secretary at the Court of Justice.

Ms Prechal was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 10 June 2010. Having been elected by her peers as President of Chamber on 9 October 2018, she has continued to serve in that function ever since.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
  • Member of the European Women Lawyers Association
  • Member of the Societas Iuris Publici Europaei
  • Member of the editorial board of the ‘Sociaal Economische Wetgeving’
  • Member of the editorial board of the ‘Review of European Administrative Law’
  • Member of the advisory board of the ‘Common Market Law Review’
  • Member of the advisory board of the ‘European Constitutional Law Review’
  • Member of the editorial board of the European Law journal ‘Europees recht, Algemeen deel’
  • Member of the editorial board of the journal ‘Europeanisation of Public Law’ and its Dutch equivalent ‘Inleiding tot Europees bestuursrecht’
  • Member of the board of recommendations of the Europa Instituut (Universiteit Utrecht)
  • Member of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Europees Recht
  • Member of the Nederlandse Juristenvereniging
Honorary titles and awards
  • Doctor honoris causa, Tilburg University
Küllike Jürimäe
Küllike Jürimäe
President of the Third Chamber
Biography and career

Born 1962 in Haapsalu (Estonia), Küllike Jürimäe obtained her law degree (equivalent to a master’s degree) at Tartu ülikool (University of Tartu, Estonia) in 1986. She continued her higher education at the Estonian School of Diplomacy, from which she graduated in 1992. In 2003, following a course of study at the Università degli Studi di Padova (University of Padua, Italy) and at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, she obtained a European Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation.

She was a public prosecutor in Tallinn (Estonia) for five years from 1986. From 1991 to 1993, she was a legal adviser and then, from 1992 to 1993, General Counsel at Eesti Kaubandus-Tööstuskoda (Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry). Between 1993 and 2004, she served as a Judge at the Tallinna Ringkonnakohus (Tallinn Court of Appeal, Estonia).

Ms Jürimäe was appointed as a Judge at the General Court of the European Union on 12 May 2004. She has served as a Judge at the Court of Justice since 23 October 2013 and has been President of Chamber at that court since 8 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Governing Council and Director of the Association of European Competition Law Judges
  • Member of Eesti Kohtunike Ühing
  • Member of Eesti Juristide Liit
Honorary titles and awards
  • Decoration of ‘the Order of the White Star of Estonia, III Class’ (2021)
Constantinos Lycourgos
Constantinos Lycourgos
President of the Fourth Chamber
Biography and career

Born 1964 in Nicosia (Cyprus), Constantinos Lycourgos obtained a law degree in 1985 and, subsequently, a diploma of advanced studies in Community law in 1987 at université Panthéon-Assas Paris II (University Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, France), the university at which he presented his doctoral thesis in law in 1991.

Admitted as a lawyer in Cyprus in 1993, he worked as a lawyer at the Nicosia Bar until 1996, the year in which he was appointed as a special adviser on European affairs to the Cypriot Minister for Foreign Affairs. He held that post until 1999 and, subsequently, the post of adviser on Community law at the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus from 1999 to 2002. He was a member of the Cypriot mission responsible for negotiating accession to the European Union between 1998 and 2003 and a member of Greek-Cypriot delegations involved in negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem from 2002 to 2014.

His expertise led him to serve as a senior lawyer of the Republic of Cyprus from 2002 to 2007 and, subsequently, as a senior counsel of that State from 2007 to 2014. He was head of the European Union Law Section of the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus from 2003 to 2014, whilst also representing the Cypriot Government before the Courts of the European Union as an agent from 2004 to 2014.

Mr Lycourgos was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 8 October 2014 and has served as President of Chamber at that court since 8 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Founding member of the Cypriot Association of Energy Law
  • Member of the European Group of Public Law (EGPL)
Eugene Regan
Eugene Regan
President of the Fifth Chamber
Biography and career

Born 1952 in Kilcoon (Ireland), Eugene Regan studied at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he obtained a degree in politics and economics in 1974 and a master’s degree in political economy in 1975. He completed his university education with a master’s degree in international law and comparative law from the Université libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels, Belgium) in 1979.

In 1975, he spent one year as an economist at the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), Dublin. From 1975 to 1979, he carried out a number of activities related to the protection of the Irish agricultural sectors as Director of the Office of the IFA at the European Economic Community. He served as Chief Executive of the Irish Meat Exporters Association (Ireland) from 1980 to 1984. After being a policy adviser to Peter Sutherland, the Commissioner for Competition in the European Commission, between 1985 and 1988, he returned to the agricultural sector as Director and General Manager of a major player in the Irish meat trade market from 1989 to 1995.

Mr Regan has been a Barrister at the Honourable Society of King’s Inns (Dublin) since 1985, practising at the Bar of Ireland in that capacity from 1995 to 2005 and, subsequently, as a Senior Counsel from 2005 to 2015. From 2007 to 2011, he was also a member of the Seanad (Senate, Ireland).

Mr Regan was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2015. He was elected by his peers as President of Chamber on 9 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Director of the Irish Centre for European Law, Dublin (Ireland)
  • Bencher of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin (Ireland)
Maciej Szpunar
Maciej Szpunar
First Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in 1971 in Cracow (Poland), Mr Maciej Szpunar obtained a master's degree in law from the Uniwersytet Śląski (University of Silesia, Poland) in 1995 and from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) in 1996. He presented his doctoral thesis in law in 2000, became a habilitated doctor in legal science in 2009, and then a professor of law in 2013 at the Uniwersytet Śląski. In 1998, his academic work took him to Jesus College, Cambridge (UK) where he was a visiting scholar, then to the University of Liège (Belgium) in 1999, and to the European University Institute in Florence (Italy) in 2003.

In 2001, he joined the Katowice Bar to take up the profession of lawyer, a profession which he practiced until 2008. During that period, he was also a member of the Committee for Private International Law of the Civil Law Codification Commission under the Polish Ministry of Justice.

He was Undersecretary of State in the Office of the Committee for European Integration (Poland) from 2008 to 2009, before joining the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013. During those three years, he represented the Polish government as an agent in a large number of cases before the Courts of the European Union.

He remains committed to academic research and is a member of the editorial board of a number of legal journals, which also led him to author numerous publications in the fields of European law and private international law.

Mr Szpunar was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 23 October 2013 and has held the position of First Advocate General since 11 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Academy of European Law in Trier
  • Associate member of the International Academy of Comparative Law
  • Member of the European Group for Private International Law
  • Member of the Research Group on Existing EC Private Law (‘Acquis Group’)
  • Member of the European Law Institute
  • Member of the Commission of Legal and Economic Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Member of the Administrative Council of the College of Europe Foundation, College of Europe, Natolin (Poland)
  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the project entitled ‘Comparative Procedural Law and Justice’ at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law; member of Segment 15 ‘Cross-border and the international dimensions’
  • Consultant for the project entitled ‘Concept and Role of Courts in Family and Succession Matters’ at the European Law Institute
  • Member of the editorial committee of the following legal journals: Europejski Przegląd Sądowy, Kwartalnik Prawa Prywatnego; Nowa Europa – Przegląd Natoliński; University of Warsaw Journal of Comparative Law; Problemy Współczesnego Prawa Międzynarodowego, Europejskiego i Porównawczego; ERA Forum – Journal of the Academy of European Law; The e-Competition Bulletin; Polski Proces Cywilny and Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego – Prace z Prawa Własności Intelektualnej
Honorary titles and awards
  • Krzyż Oficerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski (Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta)
Thomas von Danwitz
Thomas von Danwitz
President of the Sixth Chamber
Biography and career

Born in 1962 in Bedburg/Erft (Germany), Mr Thomas von Danwitz studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn, Germany) where he passed the First State Law Examination in 1986, and at the université de Genève (University of Geneva, Switzerland). He wrote a thesis at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and was awarded the title of Doctor of Laws in 1988. In 1990, Mr von Danwitz graduated from the École nationale d'administration (National School of Administration, France) with an international diploma in public administration. In 1992, he completed his legal traineeship in Cologne (Germany) with the Second State Law Examination and then, in 1996, he obtained teaching authorisation at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn where he worked as a research assistant.

Mr von Danwitz focused his research and taught in the field of German public law and European law at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany) where was a professor from 1996 to 2003 and Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2000 to 2001. From 2003 to 2006, he taught at the Universität zu Köln (University of Cologne, Germany) where he became Director of the Institute of Public Law and Administrative Science in 2006.

His academic career took him to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA) as a visiting professor in 2000, to the University François Rabelais de Tours (François Rabelais University, Tours, France) between 2001 and 2006, and to the université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, France) from 2005 to 2006. In 2005, he completed a teaching and research fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley (USA). In 2004, he joined the Executive Committee of the Association of German Jurists (Ständige Deputation des Deutschen Juristentags) as a member, where he remained engaged until 2014.

Mr von Danwitz was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2006. Having been elected as President of Chamber by his peers, he sat at the Court in that function between 9 October 2012 and 8 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the scientific committee of Il Diritto dell'Unione Europea
  • Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law (IACL)
  • Member of the editorial committee of the Deutsches Verwaltungsblatt (DVBl)
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Max-Planck Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht in Freiburg i. Br.
  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Knight of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic (2002)
  • Doctor honoris causa, université François Rabelais de Tours (2010)
François Biltgen
François Biltgen
President of the Seventh Chamber
Biography and career

Born 1958 in Luxembourg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), François Biltgen obtained a master’s degree in law in 1981 and, subsequently, a diploma of advanced studies (DEA) in Community law in 1982 at the université de droit, d’économie et de sciences sociales de l’université de Paris II Panthéon-Assas (University of Law, Economics and Social Sciences of University Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, France). It was also in 1982 that he graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies, France).

Admitted to the Bar of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1987, he practised as a lawyer from 1987 to 1999. At the same time, he also pursued a political career as Secretary of the Christian Social Party, a parliamentary group in the Luxembourg Parliament, from 1983 to 1994 and, from 1987 to 1999, as Councillor of the town of Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg), of which he was Deputy Mayor from 1997 to 1999 – a career which led him to be appointed as an Alternate Member of the Luxembourg delegation to the Committee of the Regions of the European Union between 1994 and 1999. Elected as a Member of the Luxembourg Parliament for a term of five years in 1994, he actively participated in legislative activities, in particular as a rapporteur for a number of draft acts of EU law.

Following the general elections in 1999, he was invited to serve in the Luxembourg Government and was responsible for a number of ministries: he was Minister for Labour and Employment, Minister for Religious Affairs, Minister for Relations with Parliament and Minister with responsibility for Communications from 1999 to 2004, then Minister for Labour and Employment, Minister for Religious Affairs and Minister for Culture, Higher Education and Research from 2004 to 2009 and, subsequently, Minister for Justice, Minister for the Civil Service and Administrative Reform, Minister for Higher Education and Research, Minister for Communications and the Media and Minister for Religious Affairs from 2009 to 2013.

The tasks that he performed in his ministerial posts were also reflected in the responsibilities that he held at international level. Accordingly, he chaired a number of configurations of the Council of the European Union in 2005. Mr Biltgen was Joint President of the Ministerial Conference of the Bologna Process in 2005 and 2009 and of the Interministerial Conference of the European Space Agency (ESA) from 2012 to 2013.

Mr Biltgen was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2013 and has served in that capacity since that date.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the scientific committee of Revue trimestrielle des droits de l’homme (Belgium)
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Jean Monnet Chair ‘EU Values & DIGitalization for Our CommuNITY (DIGNITY)’ of Management Center Innsbruck (Austria)
  • Alternate member of the Ethics Committee of the Conseil d’État de Luxembourg (Luxembourg Council of State) (for the period from January 2021 to December 2023)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Officer of the Order of Merit of Luxembourg (1999)
  • Grand Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2004)
  • Grand Officer of the Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolphe of Nassau (2004)
  • Grã-Cruz da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (2005)
  • Commander Grand Cross, Order of the Lion of the Republic of Finland (2009)
  • Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (2012)
  • Grosser Tiroler Adler-Orden (2012)
  • Commander in the Order of Merit of Hungary (2012)
Nuno José Cardoso da Silva Piçarra
Nuno José Cardoso da Silva Piçarra
President of the Eighth Chamber
Biography and career

Born in 1957 in Sintra (Portugal), Mr Nuno Piçarra studied law at the Universidade de Lisboa (University of Lisbon, Portugal) from which he graduated in 1980 and where he obtained Master of Laws in 1986. He later wrote a thesis at the Faculty of Law at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (New University of Lisbon, Portugal) where he obtained, in 2003, a doctorate in law.

In the course of his academic career, he was firstly a lecturer in law at the Faculty of Law at the Universidade de Lisboa between 1981 and 1986, and then a visiting professor at the Institute of European Studies of the Universität des Saarlandes (Saarland University, Germany) from 1987 to 1996. At the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, he was an assistant professor of law from 2003 to 2008 and an associate professor of law from 2008 to 2018. He also taught as a visiting professor at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Comillas Pontifical University, Spain) from 2014 to 2018. His commitment to scientific research is reflected by his numerous publications in the fields of constitutional law and EU law, particularly on the area of freedom, security and justice; on the free movement of persons; and on institutional law.

Mr Piçarra joined the Court of Justice for the first time in 1986. He worked as a lawyer-linguist until 1987 and then as a lawyer-reviser from 1987 to 1990. He became a legal secretary in 1990 when he joined the Court of First Instance in the cabinet of President José Luís da Cruz Vilaça, with whom he worked until 1995, before joining the cabinet of Judge Rui Manuel Gens de Moura Ramos until 1996.

From 1996 to 1999, the government of his home country entrusted him with the role of a national coordinator for matters concerning free movement of persons in the European area at the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and of a member of the K4 Committee of the Council and of the Central Group of the permanent consultation structure of the Schengen agreements.

He was appointed as a Portuguese member of the FreSsco network of independent experts in the fields of free movement of workers and social security coordination within the European Union and, from 2004 to 2018, as a member of the Odysseus academic network for legal studies on immigration and asylum in Europe. From 2015 to 2018, he was also a member of the Management Board of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna (Austria).

Mr Piçarra was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 8 October 2018, a position which he has held since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Co-organiser and Rapporteur-General of the FIDE XXVIII Congress held in Estoril (Portugal) from 23 to 26 May 2018
Zoltán Csehi
Zoltán Csehi
President of the Tenth Chamber
Biography and career

Born in 1965 in Budapest (Hungary), Mr Zoltán Csehi was awarded a law degree from Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary) in 1990 and a Master of Laws degree from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, Germany) in 1991. He pursued doctoral studies at Eötvös Loránd University, and defended his thesis in law in 2004. He also graduated in history of art from Eötvös Loránd University in 1992.

He was admitted to the Budapest Bar and worked as a lawyer in Hungary from 1995 to 2016. In parallel with his activity as a lawyer, he was appointed as an arbitrator at the Pénz és Tőkepiaci Állandó Választottbíróság (Permanent Arbitration Court attached to the Hungarian Stock Exchange) and as an ad hoc arbitrator, from 2004 to 2016.

Additionally, Mr. Csehi taught law as an associate professor from 1991 to 2005, and as a full professor at Eötvös Loránd University from 2005 to 2016. He also lectured at the Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary), as Head of the  Department of Commercial Law from 2007 to 2013, and as a professor from 2013 onwards. There he then took up the position of Head of the Department of Private and Commercial Law from 2013 to 2016, Research Professor of Private and Commercial Law from 2017 onwards, and Head of the Department of Civil Law in 2018. He has been a visiting professor at the Université catholique de Lyon (Catholic University of Lyon, France) since 2013.

Mr Csehi was appointed as a Judge at the General Court on 13 April 2016, where he sat for five years before he was appointed as a Member of the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Editor of the Magyar Kereskedelmi Jogi Évkönyv
  • Joint Editor of the periodical Polgári Jog
  • Member of the Board of Directors of the Alapítvány Az Új Polgári Törvénykönyvért
  • Member of the Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Köztestülete
  • Member of the Gesellschaft für Rechtsvergleichung e.V.
  • Member of the Magyar-Német Jogász Egyesület
Octavia Spineanu-Matei
Octavia Spineanu-Matei
President of the Ninth Chamber
Biography and career

Born in 1967 in Vălenii de Munte (Romania), Ms Octavia Spineanu-Matei obtained a law degree (merit diploma) from the Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iași (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, Romania) in 1990 and a doctorate in law from the Academia de Poliție ‘Alexandru Ioan Cuza’ (Alexandru Ioan Cuza Police Academy, Romania) in 1999.

In 1991, she started her professional career as a judge at the Judecătoria sectorului 4 București (Court of First Instance, Sector 4, Bucharest, Romania) and served there until 1996. From 1996 to 1999, she was a judge at the Tribunalul București (District Court, Bucharest, Romania), where she was president of the civil section between 1997 and 1999. After having presided at the Curtea de Apel București (Court of Appeal, Bucharest, Romania) as a judge from 1999 to 2005, and as a president of the civil section from 1999 to 2003, she was appointed as a judge at the Înalta Curte de Casație și Justiție (High Court of Cassation and Justice of Romania) from 2006 to 2016.

From 2006 to 2016, Ms Spineanu-Matei was appointed as an External Member of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office in Munich, Germany.

After 1997, she also dedicated herself to the training of Romanian magistrates and trainee judges as a trainer at the Institutul Național al Magistraturii (National Institute of the Magistracy, Romania), where she was also a member of the Scientific Council and then, from 2011 to 2016, a director. In addition, she served on the Board of Governors of the Școala Națională de Grefieri (National School for Registrars, Romania). From 2012 to 2016, she was a Board Member of the Doctoral School of the Universitatea din București (University of Bucharest, Romania). She co-authored several books and authored numerous articles in the legal field and she regularly spoke at national and international conferences.

Ms Spineanu-Matei was appointed as a Judge at the General Court on 19 September 2016. She served at the General Court for five years before being appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the committee of external reviewers of the legal journal EuroQuod published by the Institutul Național al Magistraturii
  • Member of the scientific editorial board of the Revista română de dreptul proprietății intelectuale edited by the Asociația Științifică de Dreptul Proprietății Intelectuale
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Academy of European Law (ERA)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Knight of the Ordinul Național ‘Pentru Merit’ (National Order of Merit) (nominated by the President of Romania for her accomplishments in the development of jurisprudence and the reform of justice) (2000)
Juliane Kokott
Juliane Kokott
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in 1957 in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Ms Juliane Kokott studied law at the Universität Bonn (University of Bonn, Germany) and at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) from 1976 to 1982. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and went on to complete an L.L.M at the American University, Washington DC (United States) in 1983. On her return to Europe, she started writing a thesis at the Universität Heidelberg (University of Heidelberg, Germany) and became a doctor of law in 1985. Harvard University (United States) also awarded her that title in 1990. In addition, in 1985, she was awarded a diploma from the Académie Internationale de Droit Constitutionnel which is based in Tunis.

Ms Kokott began her academic career in 1991 as Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (United States). She then pursued her academic career in Germany, where she was a Professor of German and Foreign Public Law, International Law and European Law at the Universität Augsburg (University of Augsburg) in 1992, at the University of Heidelberg in 1993 and at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf (University Heinrich Heine, Düsseldorf) from 1994 to 1999. In 1999, she was awarded a professorship at the Universität St. Gallen (University of Saint Gallen, Switzerland), where she taught courses in international law, international business law and European law. In 2000, she was appointed as Director of the Institute for European and International Business Law at the University of St. Gallen and, from 2001 to 2003, Deputy Director of the Master of Business Law programme at the same university.

She then worked for the German government, which, in 1995, appointed her as an alternate judge to the international Court of Conciliation and Arbitration of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In 1996, she was appointed as Deputy Chairwoman of the Wissenschaftliche Beirat ‘Globale Umweltveränderungen’ der Bundesregierung (WBGU) (Federal Government Advisory Council on Global Environmental Change, Germany).

Ms Kokott was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2003. She has served as first Advocate General from 2006 to 2007.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the steering committee of the Master programme of the Faculty of Law of the University of Luxembourg
  • Founder and Chair (with Professor Pasquale Pistone, IBDF) of the International Law Association (ILA) Study Group on International Tax Law (Part 1: Taxpayer’s Rights; Part 2: Nexus and International Taxation; Part 3: Implementation of International Tax Law)
  • Member of the advisory boards of the Deutsche Steuerjuristische Gesellschaft (German Tax Law Society), the Berliner Steuergespräche (Berlin Tax Talks) and of the Steuerrechtswissenschaftliche Vereinigung (Tax Law Association, Heidelberg) (Founding member)
  • Member of the Board of Directors of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance
  • Participation in the mentoring programme ‘Geh deinen Weg’ of the Deutschland Stiftung Integration and in the Minerva-Femmenet programme (mentoring programme of the Max Planck Society for young women scientists)
  • ‘Saarland Ambassador‘
Honorary titles and awards
  • Dr. Otto Schmidt-Preis zur Förderung der Europäisierung und Internationalisierung des Rechts (2020)
Marko Ilešič
Marko Ilešič
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1947 in Ljubljana (Slovenia), Marko Ilešič obtained a law degree at the Faculty of Law of the Univerza v Ljubljani(University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) in 1970 before studying for a doctorate at that same university, where he presented his thesis in 1984. He furthered his knowledge of comparative law in specialist programmes organised by the université de Strasbourg (University of Strasbourg, France) and the Universidade de Coimbra (University of Coimbra, Portugal), graduating from those universities in 1978 and 1980, respectively.

He began his academic career in 1970 as a lecturer at the Univerza v Ljubljani, where, as a professor, he taught civil law, commercial law and private international law from 1984 to 2004. In addition, he played an active role in the management of the Faculty of Law of the Univerza v Ljubljani, serving in that faculty as Vice-Dean from 1995 to 2001 and, subsequently, as Dean from 2001 to 2004.

After passing the judicial service examination, Mr Ilešič became a judge and, subsequently, President of Chamber at the Sodišče združenega dela v Ljubljani (Labour Court, Ljubljana, Slovenia) from 1975 to 1986. An author of numerous publications, he was elected as President of the Union of Slovene Lawyers’ Associations in 1993, an office which he held until 2005.

A strong interest in sports law and in particular in football also led him to serve as President of the Sodišče združenega dela za telesno kulturo (Sports Tribunal of Slovenia) from 1978 to 1986 and as a judge on the Boards of Appeal of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Furthermore, he took on managerial duties as President of the Nogometna zveza Slovenije (Football Association of Slovenia) from 1985 to 1989, as President of the Football Association of Yugoslavia between 1990 and 1991 and as a member of the Executive Board and, subsequently, as Vice-President of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia from 1991 to 2005.

Holding a particular interest in the practice of commercial law, he was President of the Arbitration Chamber of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange and an arbitrator at the Chamber of Commerce of Yugoslavia. He was then an arbitrator at the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia and at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Mr Ilešič was the first Slovenian judge to be appointed at the Court of Justice on 11 May 2004. Elected by his peers as President of Chamber, he held that office for two successive terms from 9 October 2012 to 8 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the International Law Association
  • Member of the International Maritime Committee
  • Member of the International Association of Comparative Law
  • Member of the Amicale des anciens de l’Union européenne des associations de football (circle of former UEFA committee members)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Honorary member, Društvo za pomorsko pravo Slovenije
  • Life’s work award, Zveza društev pravnikov Slovenije
  • Grande Ufficiale dell’ordine del merito della Repubblica Italiana
  • Honorary member, Nogometna zveza Slovenije
Jean-Claude Bonichot
Jean-Claude Bonichot
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1955 in Metz (France), Jean-Claude Bonichot obtained a law degree from the université de Metz (University of Metz, France) in 1976 and, subsequently, a degree from the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) de Paris (Paris Institute of Political Studies, France) in 1977. He was then a student at the École nationale d’administration (ENA) (National School of Administration, France), graduating in 1982 (Henri-François d’Aguesseau graduation class).

It was in that year that he joined the Conseil d’État (Council of State, France) as a junior officer and he was a rapporteur (advocate-reporter) in the Judicial Division until 1985. Appointed as a commissaire du gouvernement (Government commissioner), he served in that capacity in the General Assembly and in other judicial sections of the Conseil d’État between 1985 and 1987.

In addition, he was given posts external to the Conseil d’État that were linked with his experience in administrative proceedings. During 1986, he was appointed as a legal adviser to the Director-General of Urbanism and Construction in the French Ministry of Infrastructure. In 1987, he joined the Court of Justice of the European Communities as a legal secretary in the Chambers of Judge Yves Galmot, subsequently serving as a legal secretary in the Chambers of Judge Fernand Grévisse, with whom he worked until 1991. Returning to France, he was appointed as Director of the Private Office of the Minister for Labour, Employment and Vocational Training and, subsequently, as Director of the Private Office of the Minister for the Civil Service and Modernisation of Administration.

Between 1992 and 1999, Mr Bonichot again held the post of commissaire du gouvernement at the Conseil d’État, subsequently being invited to serve as an assesseur (non-presiding judge) before being appointed in 2000 as President of the Sixth Sub-Division of the Judicial Division of the Conseil d’État (sub-divisions are now referred to as ‘chambers’), where he held that office until 2006. At the same time, he was head of the Legal Mission of the Conseil d’État at the National Health Insurance Fund for Employed Persons between 2001 and 2006.

An author of numerous publications on administrative law, EU law and European human rights law, Mr Bonichot has also been involved in teaching during a varied academic career: between 1988 and 2000, he was an Associate Professor at the université de Metz, where he was head of the public law department for a number of years. In 1995, he was also a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the université de Liège (University of Liège, Belgium). He was appointed in 2000 as an Associate Professor at the université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne) (University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), France), a post which he held until the end of the 2007 academic year. His academic career led him to become a member of the selection board for the national competitive examination in public law in 2000.

He was also Deputy Secretary-General and, subsequently, Secretary-General of the Institut français des sciences administratives (French Institute of Administrative Sciences, France) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Institut international des sciences administratives (International Institute of Administrative Sciences, France).

He is the co-founder of two legal journals: Bulletin de jurisprudence de droit de l’urbanisme, for which he is president of the editorial committee, and Bulletin juridique des collectivités locales.

Mr Bonichot was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2006. He was President of Chamber at the Court of Justice between 7 October 2009 and 9 October 2012, serving again in that capacity from 9 October 2018 to 8 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • President of the editorial committee of Bulletin de jurisprudence de droit de l’urbanisme
  • Member of the Académie du Morvan (Academy of Morvan)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Officier dans l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur
  • Officier dans l’Ordre national du Mérite
Siniša Rodin
Siniša Rodin
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1963 in Zagreb (Croatia), Siniša Rodin obtained his law degree from Sveučilište u Zagrebu (University of Zagreb, Croatia) in 1987 and continued his university studies in the United States of America, where he obtained a Master of Laws from the University of Michigan in 1992. Returning to Croatia, he continued his studies at Sveučilište u Zagrebu, where he became a Doctor of Laws in 1995. From 2001 to 2002, he was a Fulbright Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, USA.

He began his professional career in 1987 at Sveučilište u Zagrebu as a tenure track professor. Since 2003, he has been a Professor of EU law at Sveučilište u Zagrebu, where, in 2006, he was awarded the Jean Monnet Chair, of which he became an ad personam holder in 2011. In 2012, he became a visiting professor at Cornell Law School, USA. During his university career, Mr Rodin published numerous works that contributed to the dissemination of EU law in Croatia.

Between 2006 and 2011, Mr Rodin was a member of the Croatian team that defined the negotiating framework and the process regarding the accession of Croatia to the European Union whilst also being, from 2009 to 2010, a member of the Croatian Constitutional Amendment Committee and President of the working group on Croatia’s EU membership.

The first Croatian judge to be appointed at the Court of Justice, Mr Rodin has served as a Judge at the Court since 4 July 2013.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the World Jurist Association (WJA) (Washington DC, USA)
  • Member of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Law of the Università del Salento (University of Salento, Italy)
Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona
Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born 1950 in Zafra (Spain), Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona graduated in law in 1972 after completing his studies at the Universidad de Sevilla (University of Seville, Spain) and at the Universidad de Granada (University of Granada, Spain). He began his judicial career as a public prosecutor at the Audiencia Provincial de Palma de Mallorca (Provincial Court of Palma de Mallorca, Spain) and at the Audiencia Provincial de Sevilla (Provincial Court of Seville, Spain) from 1977 to 1982.

He then continued his career as a Judge in the Chamber for Contentious Administrative Proceedings of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias (High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, Spain), of the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court, Spain), of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía (High Court of Justice of Andalusia, Spain) and of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cantabria (High Court of Justice of Cantabria, Spain). From 1989 to 1994, he served in the latter court as President of the Chamber for Contentious Administrative Proceedings.

Having worked as a legal secretary to Advocate General Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer at the Court of Justice of the European Communities from 1995 to 1999, he then served as a Judge in the Chamber for Contentious Administrative Proceedings of the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court, Spain) from 1999 to 2015.

Alongside those posts, Mr Campos Sánchez-Bordona was a member of the Board of the Association of Councils of State and Supreme Administrative Jurisdictions of the European Union (ACA-Europe) from 2006 to 2014.

He was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2015.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Junta Electoral Central (Spain) from 2012 to 2015
  • Member of the scientific committee of Revista de Derecho Comunitario Europeo
  • Member of the scientific committee of Revista General de Derecho Europeo
  • Member of the scientific committee of Revista Española de Derecho Europeo
Peter George Xuereb
Peter George Xuereb
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1954 in Sliema (Malta), Mr Peter George Xuereb studied at the Università ta' Malta (University of Malta) where he graduated with a degree in law in 1977, and studied at the University of London (UK) where he obtained a Master of Laws in 1979. In 1982, he was awarded a doctorate in law by the University of Cambridge (UK).

Mr Xuereb started his career as a lecturer at Ealing College of Higher Education (UK) from 1982 to 1984, which he continued at the University of Exeter (UK) from 1984 to 1990, and at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, from 1990 to 1993. Between 1993 and 2016, he taught law as a professor at the Università ta' Malta, where he was also Head of the Department of European and Comparative Law. At the same time, he was President of the European Documentation and Research Centre at that university. That position provided him with an opportunity to author numerous publications in a variety of fields.

He was admitted as an advocate of the superior courts of Malta in 1979. From 1993 to 2016, he combined his academic activities with his work as a legal adviser in the private sector. During the same period, Mr Xuereb also worked as a consultant for the Maltese Parliament. From 1995 to 2016, he contributed to the development of the dissemination of EU law as President of the Malta European Law Association.

On 8 June 2016, Mr Xuereb was appointed as a Judge at the General Court of the European Union. Since 8 October 2018, he has been carrying out that role at the Court of Justice.

Lucia Serena Rossi
Lucia Serena Rossi
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1958 in Bologna (Italy), Lucia Serena Rossi studied at the Università di Bologna (University of Bologna, Italy), where she obtained a degree in law in 1982 and, subsequently, a doctorate in European law in 1989.

Alongside her thesis work, she was employed as a legal researcher from 1982 to 1987 at an Italian research institute. In 1985, she was admitted as a lawyer in Italy.

Ms Rossi held, from 1991 to 1994, the post of Assistant Professor of International Law at the Università degli Studi di Urbino (University of Urbino, Italy) and, from 1994 to 1997, that of Associate Professor of International Law. A member of the teaching staff at the Università di Bologna, she taught international and European law at that university as an Associate Professor from 1997 to 2000. Appointed as a Professor of EU Law, she has given a course on that subject at the Università di Bologna since 2000, while at the same time teaching public international law and private international law at that university.

She has contributed to the dissemination of EU law at several other universities: she was a visiting professor at université Robert-Schuman (Robert Schuman University) in Strasbourg (France) from 2000 to 2008, at université Nice Sophia-Antipolis (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis) (France) in 2004, at université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University) (France) in 2008, at Boston University (USA) in 2014 and at King’s College London (UK) from 2005 to 2015. As a visiting lecturer, she also taught at Tōkyō daigaku (University of Tokyo, Japan) and at Universiteit Gent (Ghent University) in 2004, and at the University of Denver (USA) in 2002 and 2009. In addition, she is an author of several publications.

Furthermore, Ms Rossi was, from 1998 to 2018, Director of the International Research Centre on European Law at the Università di Bologna. Having held, from 2009 to 2010, the office of Vice-President of the Italian Society of International and EU Law, she was, from 2011 to 2013, a member of the Joint Managerial Committee of the China-EU School of Law of Zhōngguó Zhèngfǎ Dàxué (China University of Political Science and Law, China). From 2014 to 2018, she was on the Governing Board of the Academy of European Law (ERA) as a representative of the Italian Government, which appointed her, from 2014 to 2017, as a legal adviser in the Department of European Policy of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

An author and a co-author of numerous legal publications, Ms Rossi has also been a lecturer at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) and at the University of Luxembourg since 2019.

Ms Rossi was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 8 October 2018 and has served in that capacity since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of Società Italiana di Diritto Internazionale e Diritto dell’Unione Europea (SIDI), of Associazione Italiana degli Studiosi di Diritto dell’Unione Europea (AISDUE), of the European Law Institute (ELI), of the International Affairs Institute (IAI), of the European Union Study Association (EUSA) and of the Academy of Sciences of the Università di Bologna
  • Member of the advisory board of the Centre of European Law of the Faculty of Law of King’s College London
  • Member of the scientific, steering or editorial committee of: Il Foro Italiano, Il Diritto dell’Unione Europea, Studi sull’Integrazione europea, Diritto comunitario e degli Scambi internazionali, Freedom Security and Justice: European Legal Studies, Papers di diritto europeo, La Cittadinanza europea online, the Bologna Law Review and the European Foreign Affairs Review (2018-2021)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Jean Monnet Chair ad personam, awarded by the European Commission (2010-2017)
Irmantas Jarukaitis
Irmantas Jarukaitis
Judge
Biography and career

Mr Irmantas Jarukaitis was born in 1973 in Prienai (Lithuania); he completed a law degree in 1997 and a doctor of laws in 2008 at the Vilniaus universitetas (University of Vilnius, Lithuania). He taught as a lecturer then associate professor at that same university from 1999 to 2018. He undertook other legal research tasks, as shown by his many publications in the fields of European law and constitutional law. Alongside his university roles, he was actively involved in the creation of the Lithuanian Association of European Law, of which he is the cofounder.

In 1997, he began to work for his native country, joining the Department of European Law of the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice; he held the position of Head Specialist, then that of Head of Section from 2002 to 2003 and, from 2004 to 2010, that of Deputy Director-General. Between 2010 and 2018, he carried out jurisdictional duties as a Judge at the Lietuvos vyriausiasis administracinis teismas (Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania), of which he was the Vice-President from 2012 to 2017. From 2015 to 2017, he was Acting President of that court while sitting at the Teisėjų taryba (Judicial Council, Lithuania).

Mr Jarukaitis was appointed as a judge to the Court of Justice on 8 October 2018.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Lietuvos Europos teisės asociacija
  • Member of the Association of European Competition Law Judges
Priit Pikamäe
Priit Pikamäe
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born 1973 in Tallinn (Estonia), Priit Pikamäe graduated in law from Tartu Ülikool (University of Tartu, Estonia) in 1997 and continued his law studies at the université de Poitiers (University of Poitiers, France). In 2006, he became a Doctor of Laws of Tartu Ülikool.

His first professional post was that of Director of the 7th Office of the Consular Department of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. He was then appointed as Director of the Criminal Law Department in the Estonian Ministry of Justice, an office that he held from 1996 to 2001.

The practical experience that he developed also found expression in the judicial field and led him to serve as a judge at the Harju Maakohtu Tallinna kohtumaja (Court of Tallinn, Estonia) from 2001 to 2002, at the Tallinna Ringkonnakohtus (Court of Appeal of Tallinn, Estonia) from 2002 to 2006 and at the Riigikohus (Supreme Court, Estonia) from 2006 to 2009. From 2010 to 2013, he was President of the Criminal Chamber of the Riigikohus. He was appointed as President of the Riigikohus by the Estonian Parliament, serving from 2013 to 2019. In addition, he was appointed as an ad hoc judge at the European Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France), serving from 2010 to 2016.

Alongside his judicial functions, he was President of the Kohtute Haldamise Nõukoda (Council responsible for the administration of first-instance and appellate courts, Estonia) from 2013 to 2019 and, subsequently, President of the Network of the Presidents of the Supreme Judicial Courts of the European Union from 2017 to 2019.

As a visiting professor, he taught law at Tartu Ülikool from 2012 to 2017. It was particularly in that role that he published numerous articles on the study of criminal law.

Mr Pikamäe was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 6 February 2019 and has served in that capacity since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Academic Board of the Faculty of Law of Tartu Ülikool
  • Founding member of the Estonian Association for Protection of Financial Interests of the European Union
  • Member of the Estonian Academic Law Association
Honorary titles and awards
  • Riigivapi III klassi teenetemärk (2019)
Andreas Kumin
Andreas Kumin
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1965 in Graz (Austria), Andreas Kumin studied law at Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (University of Graz, Austria), where he obtained a law degree in 1987 and, subsequently, a doctorate in law in 1990. He was awarded an undergraduate degree in translation by that same university in 1988. It was in connection with his training as a civil servant that he opted in 1991 to continue his studies in France at the École nationale d’administration (ENA) (National School of Administration, France), graduating from the ‘long international cycle in public administration’ in 1992.

He began his professional career in 1990 as a civil servant in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he worked until 1994, initially in its Legal Service and, subsequently, in the Directorate-General for European and Economic Integration Policy. From 1994 to 2000, he held the post of Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations and the Specialised Agencies in Geneva (Switzerland). From 2000 to 2019, he again worked in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, initially as head of the unit ‘Legal issues concerning the first pillar of the European Union’ and, subsequently, from 2005 to 2019, as head of the European Law Department in that ministry.

He authored numerous publications on EU law during an academic career which he began in 2007 as a lecturer in the Department of European Law and Public International Law of Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck (University of Innsbruck, Austria) and which included the post of senior lecturer at the Diplomatische Akademie Wien (Vienna School of International Studies, Austria) from 2012 to 2018 and, since 2014, that of co-organiser of a number of seminars at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria). Lastly, he was awarded, for the period from 2014 to 2019, a contract for the post of professor at the Institute of European Law of Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, where he continued to teach as an Honorary Professor in 2020.

Mr Kumin was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 20 March 2019 and has served in that capacity since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Regular participation, at the invitation of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the sessions of the ‘Beirat für Europarecht’ (informal advisory committee on European law)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Honorary Professor of European law of Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz (2020)
Niilo Jääskinen
Niilo Jääskinen
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1958 in Mikkeli (Finland), Mr Niilo Jääskinen obtained a law degree in 1980 and then, in 1982, a postgraduate law degree from the Helsingin yliopisto (University of Helsinki, Finland). In 2008, he was awarded his doctoral thesis in law at the same university. His interest in teaching became apparent very early; he became a lecturer in law at the Helsingin yliopisto in 1980, a position which he held until 1986.

In 1983, he served as a legal secretary and acting judge at the Rovaniemen kihlakunnanoikeus (District Court, Rovaniemi, Finland) for one year. He was a legal adviser at the Finnish Ministry of Justice from 1987 to 1989 where he subsequently became head of the European Law Section from 1990 to 1995. At the same time, he was a legal adviser at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1989 and 1990. As the person responsible for legal and institutional questions, he took part in the negotiations for the accession of the Republic of Finland to the European Union. From 1995 to 2000, he held the positions of an advisor and a clerk for European affairs of the Grand Committee of the Finnish Parliament.

Having been called to the service of the Finnish judiciary, Mr Jääskinen performed the duties of an acting judge at the Korkein hallinto-oikeus (Supreme Administrative Court, Finland) from 2000 to 2002 where he was a judge from 2003 to 2009.

He joined the Court of Justice as Advocate General on 7 October 2009, a position which he held until 7 October 2015. Upon return to his home country, he resumed his duties as a judge at the Korkein hallinto-oikeus from 2015 to 2019 where he was also Vice-President from 2018 to 2019.

On 7 October 2019, Mr Jääskinen was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice, a position which he has held since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law, the Helsingin yliopisto
Honorary titles and awards
  • Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland (1994)
  • Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2008)
  • Medal of merit for 30 years of state service (2018)
  • Commander, First Class, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2019)
Nils Wahl
Nils Wahl
Judge
Biography and career

Born 1961 in Stockholm (Sweden), Nils Wahl obtained from Stockholms Universitet (University of Stockholm, Sweden) the title of Juris kandidat (LL.M.) in 1987 and a doctorate in law in 1995. From 1995, he started a primarily academic career in which he became an Associate Professor (docent) and a holder of the Jean Monnet Chair of European Law and, subsequently, a Professor of European Law in 2001 at Stockholms Universitet.

From 1993 to 2004, Mr Wahl was Managing Director of an educational foundation. From 2001 to 2006, he was also Chairman of the Swedish association Nätverket för europarättslig forskning (Swedish Network for European Legal Research) and became a member of the Rådet för konkurrensfrågor (Council for Competition Law Matters, Sweden).

In 2006, Mr Wahl was appointed as a Judge at the General Court of the European Union. He served in that capacity until 2012 and subsequently joined the Court of Justice as an Advocate General, a post which he held for seven years. Since 2019, he has been a Judge at the Court of Justice.

Jean Richard de la Tour
Jean Richard de la Tour
Advocate General
Biography and career

Mr Jean Richard de la Tour was born in 1959 in Le Dorat (France); he obtained a Master of Laws at the université Paris II (University of Paris II, France) in 1982 before beginning his professional judicial training at the École nationale de la magistrature (National School for the Judiciary, Bordeaux, France) from 1984 to 1986.

He was appointed as a judge in 1986 and began his professional career at the tribunal d’instance de Limoges (District Court of Limoges, France), sitting until 1988; he then held the position of judge at the administration centrale du ministère de la Justice français à la Direction des affaires civiles et du Sceau (central administration of the Ministry of Justice in the Directorate for Civil Affairs and the Legal Professions) from 1988 to 1996. Between 1996 and 2004, he was an Auxiliary Judge at the Cour de cassation (Court of Cassation, Paris, France).

Mr Richard de la Tour then continued his career at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, taking up his duties in 2004, where he worked, until 2006, as a lecteur d’arrêts(reader of judgments). From 2006 to 2012, he worked as a legal secretary in the Court of Justice to Judge Pernilla Lindh then Judge Carl Gustav Fernlund.

In 2012, he returned to his home country to an appointment as Advocate General in the Social Chamber of the Court of Cassation. He held that position alongside that of Special Advisor to the Prosecutor General of the Court of Cassation until 2017. He was then appointed First Advocate General of the Commercial, Financial and Economic Chamber of the Court of Cassation, a position he held from 2017 to 2020.

Between 1998 and 2002, alongside his judicial roles, he was a member of the report and studies commission of the Court of Cassation and of the criminal convictions review commission of the Court of Cassation from 1999 to 2004. From 2016 to 2020, he was the president of the conseil d’administration de l’Institut national des formations notariales (Board of Directors of the National Institute of Notarial Training, France).

Mr Richard de la Tour was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 23 March 2020.

Honorary titles and awards
  • Chevalier of the Ordre de la Légion d’honneur (2016)
Athanasios Rantos
Athanasios Rantos
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in 1953 in Athens (Greece), Mr Athanasios Rantos obtained a degree in law from the Panepistimio Athinon (University of Athens, Greece) in 1976 and completed his studies with a master's degree with a specialisation in European law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) in 1990. In 1992, he became a Fellow of the International Institute of Human Rights (working both in Geneva (Switzerland) and Strasbourg (France)).

In 1978, he practised as a lawyer at the Athens Bar for one year before joining the Symvoulio tis Epikrateias (Council of State, Greece) where, between 1979 and 2020, he held, successively, the positions of a junior officer, junior member, member, Vice-President and then President. From 2000 to 2020, he was a member of the Anotato Eidiko Dikastirio (Superior Special Court, Greece) and, from 2011 to 2020, President of the Eidiko Dikastirio Agogon Kakodikias (Special Court for Actions against Judges, Greece). From 1996 to 2020, he was a member and then President of the Anotato Symvoulio Dioikitikis Dikaiosynis (Supreme Council for Administrative Justice, Greece). From 2011 to 2020, he was also President of the Peitharchiko Symvoulio Melon Didaktikou Ereunitikou Prosopikou ton Anotaton Ekpaideutikon Idrymaton (Disciplinary Council for Teachers in Further Education Institutions, Greece).

In addition to his judicial duties, Mr Rantos was President of a number of Legislative Drafting Committees. He was also a member of the Κentriki Nomoparaskeuastiki Epitropi (Central Legislative Drafting Committee, Greece). His interest in teaching also led him to teach European law and Administrative law at the Ethniki Scholi Dimosias Dioikisis (National School of Public Administration, Greece) from 1990 to 1994 as well as at the Ethniki Scholi Dikastikon Leitourgon (National School of Judicial Officers, Greece) from 1995 to 2016. His reflections on various legal matters gave rise to numerous research projects, the majority of which has been published.

Mr Rantos was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 10 September 2020, a position which he has held since then.

Ineta Ziemele
Ineta Ziemele
Judge
Biography and career

Ms Ineta Ziemele was born in 1970 in Jelgava; she obtained a law degree from the Latvijas Universitāte (University of Latvia) in 1993, which she supplemented that year by a postgraduate study of the American legal system, the law and politics of the European Communities and political science (University of Aarhus, Denmark). She went on to obtain a Masters in international law at the Lunds Universitet (University of Lund, Sweden) in 1994 and completed her studies at Cambridge University, where she received her PhD in law in 1999.

She began her professional career as a parliamentary assistant at the Latvian Parliament from 1990 to 1992, before working as a consultant to the Foreign Affairs committee of the Republic of Latvia from 1992 to 1995. She was appointed as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Latvia in 1995 and held the same position at the Human Rights Directorate General of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) from 1999 to 2001.

Moreover, Ms Ziemele taught from 1993 as a university assistant in the Legal and Political Theory Department and the International Law and Law of the Sea Department and in International Law and European Law at the Latvijas Universitāte. She went on to work as a lecturer in International Law and European Law until 1999, while she founded the Human Rights Institute, of which she was the director also until 1999, at the Latvijas Universitāte. She was the 'Söderberg' Professor, then visiting professor at the Rīgas Juridiskā augstskola (Riga Graduate School of Law, Latvia), where she held the position of International Law and Human Rights Law professor from 2001. From 2001 to 2005, she also taught at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at the University of Lund as a visiting professor.

Ms Ziemele’s career in the judiciary began in 2005 with her appointment as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where she also held the position of President of Chamber until 2014. She was appointed as a judge at the Latvijas Republikas Satversmes tiesa (Constitutional Court, Latvia) in 2015 and served as its President from 2017 to 2020.

From 2017 she held the position of corresponding Member of the Academy of Science of Latvia to which she contributed though her legal research, resulting in numerous publications.

Ms Ziemele was appointed as a judge at the Court of Justice on 6 October, a position she has held since then.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • corresponding Member of the Academy of Science of Latvia
  • Chief editor of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law
Honorary titles and awards
  • Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis (Class IV) award (Latvia) (2014)
  • Award of the Cabinet of Ministers (Latvia) for her significant contribution to the development of the Latvian legal system, the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, and for her accomplishments in the field of legal science (2016)
  • Medal of Honour of the first degree of the judicial system (Latvia) (2018)
  • Honorary diploma conferred by the Region of Jelgava (Latvia) (2018)
Jan Passer
Jan Passer
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1974 in Prague (Czechoslovakia), Mr Jan Passer studied at the Universita Karlova (Charles University, Czech Republic) where he obtained his law degree. He also completed a Masters of Laws at the Stockholms universitet (University of Stockholm, Sweden) in 2000. In 2007, he defended his doctoral thesis in law at the Universita Karlova.

Since 1997, he carried out a number of judicial functionsin his home country, first as a trainee judge at the Městský soud v Praze (Prague City Court, Czech Republic), a position which he held until 2001, and then as a judge at the Obvodní soud pro Prahu 2 (Prague 2 District Court, Czech Republic), from 2001 to 2005. From 2005 to 2016, he was a judge at the Nejvyšší správní soud (Supreme Administrative Court, Czech Republic).

The substantial experience gained during his practice took Mr Passer to teaching. He was a lecturer in, amongst other subjects, EU law at the Universita Karlova from 2001 to 2003, at the Masarykova univerzita (Masaryk University, Czech Republic) from 2006 to 2016, and at the Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci (Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic) from 2014 to 2016. That expertise also led him to teach law at the Judicial Academy of the Czech Republic from 2001 to 2016.

Mr Passer was appointed as a Judge at the General Court of the European Union on 19 September 2016. He served at the General Court for four years before being appointed, on 6 October 2020, to his current role as a Judge at the Court of Justice.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Founding member of the Česká společnost pro evropské a srovnávací právo
Dimitrios Gratsias
Dimitrios Gratsias
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1957 in Athens (Greece), Mr Dimitrios Gratsias obtained his master’s degree in law from the Ethniko kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinón (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) in 1980 and a diplôme d'études approfondies (diploma of advanced studies, DEA) in public law from the université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne (University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, France) in 1981. The following year, the Centre universitaire d'études communautaires et européennes (Université Paris I) (University Centre for Community and European Studies, University of Paris I, France) awarded him a diploma in Community law.

In 1985, Mr Gratsias began his professional career at the Symvoulio tis Epikrateias (Council of State, Greece) where he worked as a junior officer until 1992. He was subsequently appointed as a junior member in 1992 and then as a member in 2005. In addition to those functions, he was appointed, in 1998, as a supplementary member of the Anotato Eidiko Dikastirio (Superior Special Court, Greece) for two years (1998-1999) and, in 2006, as a member of the Eidiko Dikastirio Agogon Kakodikias (Special Court for Actions against Judges, Greece) for one year. In 2008, he was a member of the Anotato Dikastiko Symvoulio Dioikitikis Dikaiosinis (Supreme Council for Administrative Justice, Greece). During the 2009-2010 judicial year, he was an inspector of administrative courts.

Between 1994 and 1996, Mr Gratsias joined the Court of Justice as a legal secretary in the cabinet of Advocate General Georges Cosmas.

Mr Gratsias was a Judge at the General Court between 25 October 2010 and 6 October 2021 where he also took on the functions of President of Chamber for two successive terms, from 18 September 2013 to 30 September 2019. He has been a Judge at the Court of Justice since 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Elliniki Enosi Evropaikou Dikaiou (Hellenic Association for European Law, Greece)
Maria Lourdes Arastey Sahún
Maria Lourdes Arastey Sahún
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1959 in Tarragona (Spain), Ms Maria Lourdes Arastey Sahún studied at the Universitat de Barcelona (University of Barcelona, Spain), where she obtained a law degree in 1983, before taking professional judicial training at the Escuela Judicial (Judicial College, Spain) from 1984 to 1985.

She was appointed as a district judge at the Juzgado de Distrito de Sant Feliu de Llobregat (District Court of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Spain) and the Juzgado de Distrito de Barcelona (District Court of Barcelona, Spain) from 1985 to 1989. In 1989, she was assigned to the Juzgado de lo Social No 7 de Barcelona (Social Court No 7 of Barcelona, Spain) for one year. She then joined the Social Division of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña (High Court of Justice of Catalonia, Spain) where she remained until 2009. She was appointed to the Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court, Spain) as a judge in 2009. From 2013 to 2021, she was also a judge at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Administrative Tribunal (Brussels, Belgium).

In addition to her judicial career, Ms Arastey Sahún was also involved in teaching. From 1998 to 2008, she was an associate professor in Employment and Social Security Law at the Universitat de Barcelona. She was also a lecturer at national judicial schools, in particular in Spain (on a regular basis), Bulgaria (2008) and Romania (2008), and at the Juan Carlos I School for Centroamerica and the Caribbean (2006). Ms Arastey Sahún gave lectures and participated in seminars at numerous universities. She was also a member of several bodies operating, inter alia, in the fields of EU law, training and examination of the competence of judges, and alternative dispute resolution.

Ms Arastey Sahún was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the European Association of Judges for Mediation (GEMME), former President of its Spanish Section, and former Vice-President of its European Executive Committee
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Franco-Spanish Friendship Association ‘MUJERES AVENIR’
  • Member of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Española para el Estudio del Derecho Europeo (AEDEUR)
  • Member of the Asociación Española de Salud y Seguridad Social (AESSS)
  • Member of the European Law Institute (ELI), joining scientific committees at annual meetings on European case-law organised by its ‘Spanish Hub’ (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021)
  • Member of the Women in a Legal World association
  • Member of the Scientific Board of the Femeris Journal of Gender Studies (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)
  • Member of the editorial board of the Revista Foro de Seguridad Social
  • Member of the Advisory Board of the Derecho Social y Empresa
Anthony Michael Collins
Anthony Michael Collins
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born 1960 in New Haven (USA), Mr Anthony Michael Collins obtained a Degree in Legal Science from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) in 1984 and the degree of Barrister-at-Law from the Honourable Society of King’s Inns (Dublin) in 1986.

He pursued his professional career at the Bar of Ireland as a Barrister-at-Law from 1986 to 1990 and from 1997 to 2003 and, subsequently, as a Senior Counsel from 2003 to 2013. He temporarily interrupted his career as a Barrister-at-Law between 1990 and 1997 to work at the Court of Justice of the European Communities as a legal secretary to Judges Thomas Francis O’Higgins (from 1990 to 1991) and John L. Murray (from 1991 to 1997). He served as a member of the Permanent Delegation of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) to the Court of Justice and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court between 2006 and 2013. Since 2015, he has also been an Adjunct Professor of EU law at University College Cork (Ireland). He is an author of numerous publications and works on Irish administrative law and on EU law.

Mr Collins was appointed as a Judge at the General Court on 16 September 2013 and was President of Chamber at that court for two terms from 21 September 2016 to 7 October 2021.

Since 7 October 2021, he has been an Advocate General at the Court of Justice.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • President of the Irish Centre for European Law
  • Bencher of the Honourable Society of King’s Inns
Miroslav Gavalec
Miroslav Gavalec
Judge
Biography and career

Born in 1961 in Zlín (Czechoslovakia), Mr Miroslav Gavalec was first awarded a degree in mechanical engineering in the fields of heat engines and nuclear equipment at the České vysoké učení technické v Praze (Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechoslovakia), and took up various positions in the nuclear sector from 1986 to 1991.

His interest in social sciences led him to study law at the Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia) from 1990 to 1995, where he was awarded a ‘Magister’ degree in law in 1995 then the title of Doctor of Laws (PhD) in 2010.

In 2001, he was appointed as a commercial and family judge and as an administrative judge at the Okresný súd Bratislava III (District Court, Bratislava III, Slovakia). He served there until 2005, when he joined the Najvyšší súd Slovenskej republiky (Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic), where he served first as a judge of the Administrative Division and, from 2009, as President of the First Chamber of the Administrative Division.

In parallel with his judicial career, Mr Gavalec established himself as a university lecturer. Between 2005 and 2011, he taught at the Institute of Economics and Management of the Paneurópska vysoká škola (Pan-European University, Slovakia).From 2006 to 2014 he lectured at the Institutes of Administrative Law and Private Law of the Paneurópska vysoká škola.

Mr Gavalec was a member of the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment from 2005 to 2020, and a member of the European Association of Administrative Judges from 2006 to 2015.

Mr Gavalec was appointed as a Judge at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Nicholas Emiliou
Nicholas Emiliou
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in Famagusta (Cyprus), Mr Nicholas Emiliou studied at the l’Ethniko kai Kapodistriako Panepistimio Athinon (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) from which he graduated in law in 1986. He continued his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (London, UK) where he obtained an LL.M. in European law in 1987. In 1991, he was awarded a doctorate in law by University College London (UK).

He began his academic career at that university where he worked as a research associate from 1988 to 1991. He then took up teaching duties in EU law at the University of Southampton (UK) from 1991 to 1993, and then at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London (UK) from 1993 to 1994. Between 1995 and 1997, he held the Jean Monnet Chair of European Integration at the University of Durham (UK). From 1994 to 1997, while carrying on those activities, Mr Emiliou was also an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London, also acting as Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cyprus.

Between 1997 and 1998, he was Minister Plenipotentiary at the EU Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus and then, from 1998 to 1999, Deputy Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union.

From 1999 to 2002, Mr Emiliou was Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of the Republic of Cyprus to Ireland.

Between 2002 and 2004, he was Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the Council of Europe and Representative of the Government of Cyprus in cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights. In 2004, he was appointed as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union and held that office until 2008.

Mr Emiliou was then appointed as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, a position which he held until 2012.

Between 2012 and 2017, he became Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the United Nations in New York, before returning to his role as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union from 2017 to 2021. He also served on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (Netherlands) from 1995 to 2016.

Mr Emiliou was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the European Public Law Organisation (EPLO)
  • Member of the International Law Association (Cypriot Branch)
Honorary titles and awards
  • Knight Commander with Star, Order of St. Gregory the Great, Vatican (2010)
Tamara Ćapeta
Tamara Ćapeta
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in 1967 in Zagreb (Croatia), Ms Tamara Ćapeta began her studies at the Sveučilište u Zagrebu (University of Zagreb, Croatia), from which she graduated with a diploma in law in 1991. She pursued her studies at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) where she was awarded a Master's degree in Advanced European Studies in 1993. Back at the Sveučilište u Zagrebu, she undertook a PhD and became a doctor of law in 2001.

Ms Ćapeta began her professional career in 1992 as a civil servant within the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Department for European Integration and the Department for UN Agencies with a seat in Europe. From 1994 to 1997 she conducted research on the European integration process at the Institut za razvoj i međunarodne odnose (Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia).

She began her academic career in 1997 as a university assistant in the Department of Commercial Law and International Trade at the Faculty of Economics of the Sveučilište u Zagrebu. Since 2002, she has been a professor at the Faculty of Law of the Sveučilište u Zagrebu, where she was one of the founding members of the Department of European Public Law.

In 2013, Ms Ćapeta was appointed Head of the Croatian Language Translation Unit at the Directorate-General for Multilingualism of the Court of Justice of the European Union, resuming her teaching activities at the Sveučilište u Zagrebu in 2014. From 2015 to 2021, she served as Head of the Department of European Public Law and as Director of the Postgraduate Programme in European Law there. In 2018, she founded the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, which is dedicated to research on the rule of law, and served as its coordinator from 2018 to 2021.

Ms Ćapeta is the author of numerous publications in the field of EU law. She is the founder of an international journal on EU law, the only one in existence to date in Croatia, and was its editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2015. In parallel with her teaching activities at the Sveučilište u Zagrebu, she was Visiting scholar of EU Law at the Indiana University School of Law Exchange Program (United States) between 2005 and 2010, and then in 2016 at the University of Pittsburgh (United States) and at Zhōngguó Zhèngfǎ Dàxué (China University of Political Science and Law, China). She also teaches Croatian judges and civil servants as part of continuing professional development programmes on EU law organised by the Pravosudna akademija (Judicial Academy, Croatia) and the Državna škola za javnu upravu (State School of Public Administration, Croatia).

In 2020, Ms Ćapeta was appointed by a joint committee of the European Union to serve as a member of the arbitration panel under the UK Withdrawal Agreement, a role she ceased to occupy further to her appointment as Advocate General at the Court of Justice.

Ms Tamara Ćapeta was appointed as Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Hrvatske udruge za europsko pravo (CROSEL)
  • Member of the International Federation for European Law (FIDE)
  • Member of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES)
  • Member of the Hrvatski pravni centar (HPC)
  • Member of the Alumni Association of the College of Europe
  • Member of the Croatian Alumni Association of the College of Europe
  • Member of the Croatian Fulbright Alumni Association
  • Member of the Hrvatske udruge za studij Europske unije (CEUSA)
  • Member of the Editorial Board of the Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy
  • Member of the Scientific Committee of the Collana di Diritto per l'Economia del Dipartimento di Studi economico-aziendali e Diritto per l'Economia, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca
Laila Medina
Laila Medina
Advocate General
Biography and career

Born in 1971 in Jelgava (Latvia), Ms Laila Medina studied at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (Malta) where she obtained a master’s degree in international maritime law in 1995. She was subsequently awarded a master’s degree in European law in 2002 at the Rīgas Juridiskā augstskola (Riga Graduate School of Law, Latvia).

In 1995, she joined the Latvian Ministry of Transport as Head of the Legal Division and Deputy Director of the Maritime Department. She served in that capacity until 2002, when she was appointed as Adviser to the Secretary of State for European Affairs at the Ministry.

From 2004 to 2005, Ms Medina held the position of Deputy Head of the European Affairs Office at the State Chancellery of the Republic of Latvia.

In 2005, she joined the Latvian Ministry of Justice as Director of the Policy Planning Department. From 2006, she was Deputy State Secretary for Sector Policy in the Ministry of Justice, then Deputy State Secretary for Legal Policy from 2009 to 2021.

Ms Medina’s career also includes teaching activities. Between 1998 and 2006, she was a lecturer in European law and European institutional law at the Valsts administrācijas skola (School of Public Administration, Latvia). In 2012, she provided training to judges and notaries on the Rome III Regulation. Finally, since 2008, she has been a board member of the Law Faculty of the Biznesa augstskola Turība (‘Turība’ Business School, Latvia).

Ms Medina was appointed as an Advocate General at the Court of Justice on 7 October 2021.

Memberships of legal, cultural, artistic, social, sporting or charitable foundations, organisations or establishments
  • Member of the Eiropas Savienības tiesību asociācija
Honorary titles and awards
  • Third Class Medal of Honour of the Judicial System of the Republic of Latvia: for the exemplary, honest and innovative performance of official duties in the field of justice and for the development of the knowledge and professionalism of persons belonging to the judicial system (2011)
Alfredo Calot Escobar
Alfredo Calot Escobar
Registrar
Biography and career

Born 1961 in Valencia (Spain), Alfredo Calot Escobar studied at the Universidad de Valencia (University of Valencia, Spain), where he obtained a law degree in 1984.

In January 1986, he was recruited by the Council of the Chambers of Commerce of the Autonomous Community of Valencia as a business analyst at the Commercial Office of Spain in Toronto (Canada), where he worked until his entry into service at the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July 1986, which he joined after passing an open competition to fill the first Spanish lawyer-linguist posts in the Directorate for Translation.

In 1990, he was promoted to the post of lawyer-reviser, a post which he held until 1993, when he joined the Court’s Press and Information Service.

In 1995, he passed a new open competition for administrators organised by the European Parliament, which allowed him to join the Secretariat of the Institutional Affairs Committee, where he was responsible for preparing various legal reports for Members, in particular in connection with the Intergovernmental Conference that preceded the conclusion of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

In 1996, he was invited to join the Chambers of the Registrar of the Court of Justice, where he held the post of aide until 1999, when he was appointed as a legal secretary to Advocate General Dámaso Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer.

Such was the varied nature of his professional experience that he re-joined the Court’s translation service in 2000 as Head of the Spanish Translation Division, which he had helped establish 14 years earlier.

In 2001, he was appointed as Director of Translation at a key moment in the history of multilingualism, since preparations were being made for the enlargement of the European Union to include 10 new Member States and, with that, the near doubling of the number of official languages from 11 to 20.

Following a change in the structure of the institution’s administrative services, Mr Calot Escobar was appointed as Director-General of Translation in June 2007.

On 6 October 2010, he was elected as Registrar of the Court of Justice and has served in that capacity since then following the extension of his term of office in 2022, when his second term of office ended.

Honorary titles and awards
  • Orden del mérito civil
  • Cruz distinguida de primera clase San Raimundo de Peñafort
  • Alumni Plus Universitat de Valencia