Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberlandesgericht Köln (Germany) lodged on 4 July 2023 – Rechtsanwältin (lawyer) and Notarin (notary) v the President of the Oberlandesgericht Hamm
(Case C-408/23, Anwaltsnotarin)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Oberlandesgericht Köln
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Rechtsanwältin (lawyer) and Notarin (notary)
Defendant: the President of the Oberlandesgericht Hamm
Questions referred
Are Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 6(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC 1 of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation to be interpreted as precluding national legislation which provides in mandatory terms that a person who has reached the age of 60 on expiry of the deadline for applications to the notary post in question cannot be appointed for the first time to the role of Anwaltsnotar (lawyer commissioned as notary), even if more than one post must remain vacant because there are no suitable younger candidates in the local court district in which the application procedure took place and candidates from other local court districts are not permitted to apply?
Is question 1 to be answered in the affirmative if it is to be expected that more than one advertised post of lawyer commissioned as notary will be impossible to fill with suitable candidates younger than 60 in the same local court district in the following year?
Is question 1 to be answered in the affirmative in any event because it is also to be expected that, also in other local court districts outside large urban centres, it will repeatedly prove impossible to fill all advertised posts of lawyer commissioned as notary with suitable candidates younger than 60?
Is no infringement of Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 6(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 present if the supply of notarial services is assured in a local court district even though an applicant over 60 years of age has not been appointed to the post of lawyer commissioned as notary solely on account of his or her age and more than one post has remained vacant?
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1 Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16).