Robert Lecourt

Robert Lecourt (19 September 1908 – 9 August 2004) was a French politician and lawyer, judge and the fourth President of the European Court of Justice.

A member of two national constituent assemblies, he was elected from the MRP in the Seine district, and retained his mandate during the three legislatures of the Fourth Republic.

In January 1958, as Minister of Justice in the government of Felix Gaillard, Lecourt proposed various reforms to the French Constitution.

Lecourt was convinced that this was a necessity for the Court of Justice, and that the European judges had an active role to play in the creation of an ‘ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’.

[4] After his retirement from the Court, Lecourt published "L'Europe des Juges" (Bruylant, 1976), an account of the major decisions and principles of European law, targeted at national lawyers and judges.