Advocates General and Grand Chamber Cases: Assistance with the Touch of Substitution

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this chapter is to analyse the role of Advocates General in Grand Chamber cases. The latter are supposed to be the crème de la crème of the case law. Alas, this is not always the case as some of the judgments are poorly argued and with quite limited legal reasoning. This chapter demonstrates that formally the role of Advocates General in Grand Chamber cases is the same as in other cases where the Court of Justice sits in different compositions. Several examples are given proving that assistance of the Advocates General is sometimes followed and sometimes rejected by the Grand Chamber. However, a selection of judgments discussed in the last section of the chapter demonstrates another phenomenon. When the Grand Chamber limits the judicial discourse to the minimum it enhances the role of the Advocates General as their Opinions become the only source of reasoning. If that happens we are arguably dealing with assistance with the touch of substitution.