Conference with Mr. Jean Richard de la Tour, French Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union

In line with the continuous dialogue between the Court of cassation and the CJEU, First President Chantal Arens and Prosecutor-General François Molins opened the conference, both highlighting the importance to develop close ties between the two courts. On this occasion, Madam First President mentioned the recent work conducted by the Court of cassation to identify ways of furthering these exchanges and strengthening the Court’s expertise, notably on the preliminary rulings. Mr. Prosecutor-General stressed the importance of the CJEU case-law dissemination and valorization efforts in order to ensure its understanding and application by French judges.

Following a summary of the CJEU’s activities supported by statistical data, Mr. Richard de la Tour presented some of the recent reflections conducted by the European Court regarding publicity and transparency requirements aiming at developing the use of visio conference during hearings. 

After these introductory remarks, Mr. Richard de la Tour structured his presentation around three main current topics: the European arrest warrant and the protection of fundamental rights, the rule of law in Europe, including the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, as well as different aspects of family law, such as the territorial jurisdiction for divorce matters and the wrongful removal of a child.

Based on these concrete case law examples, Mr. Richard de la Tour also discussed about the principle of mutual trust between Member States, impartiality and independence of the judiciary and the implementation of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union.

The conference allowed fruitful exchanges and should be followed by new meetings on other current topics.