8/18/2019 I Had the Pleasure of Working With the British Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union

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I had the pleasure of working with the British Judge at the Court of Justice of the European

Union (CJEU), Christopher Vajda, from Januar to the end of !arch "#$%& I am 'er grateful

for the generous ford *lo+al Justice grant that supported me in uem+ourg during that

time&

-he work was 'er 'aried and consistentl interesting . especiall so gi'en that the Judge/s

Cham+er was responsi+le for cases su+ject to the  procédure préjudicielle d’urgence (00U) ,

the fast1track procedure that sees the CJEU/s response to a preliminar reference handed

down within just o'er two months  rather than usual fifteen& -hese cases usuall deal with

situations in which an indi'idual is detained (here and here), +ut an sufficientl urgent case

can +e epedited under the procedure, as in some child a+duction cases& E'en within 00U

cases in'ol'ing a detained person there is considera+le 'ariet, from the surrendering of 

alleged paedophiles under the European 2rrest 3arrant framework to the compati+ilit of the

detention of aslum seekers with the European Con'ention on 4uman 5ights& It was 'er

rewarding to see such +readth of work&

I also enjoed getting to grips with the procedural aspects of +ringing cases +efore the CJEU&

-here can +e man steps on the journe to the final judgment& 2 national court refers an issue

to the CJEU6 other !em+er 7tates su+mit written o+ser'ations6 the reporting judge writes a

 preliminar report6 the parties and the !em+er 7tates come to the court to make oral

su+missions6 the 2d'ocate *eneral issues an pinion6 the judges deli+erate6 the reporting

 judge drafts a  projet de motifs assisted + one of his or her referendaires and so on& It was

'er interesting to +e a+le to see how each of these steps assists the court in coming to its

conclusion, clarifing what was reall in contention +etween the parties +efore the court and

refining the legal analsis&

-he CJEU is an impressi'e institution, +oth in si8e and in num+ers . north of "### people

work there in an arra of departments, towers and courts (the *eneral Court is part of the

same +uilding)& -he work at the court is much more practical and specific than what is

co'ered in the standard EU law courses6 gone are eegeses on the implications of Van Gend’s

9new legal order:, and musings on the nature of EU citi8enship& !uch more emphasis is

 placed on interpreting a particular word in an EU measure, fossicking through the recitals for 

something that might shed light of a gi'en pro'ision, and com+ing through other ;irecti'es

that might indicate how a gi'en article fits in the o'erall legislati'e scheme& 3orking at the

court was thus a learning cur'e& But ou