Luxembourg, 08/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - The seven judges at the EU Civil Service Court, which will become operational in January 2006, have appointed a registrar, Waltraud Hakenberg, 51 years old, Doctor of Law, who joined the European Court of Justice in 1990 where she has been law clerk to Austrian judge Peter Jann since 1995. Harmut Ost, from the European Court of Justice's press and information department, will take over from her in Jahn's office.
In parallel, the judges of the EU Civil Service Court have appointed two Presidents of Chamber, namely Belgian national Sean Van Raepenbusch and German national Horster Kreppel. The two judges, along with Polish judge Irena Boruta, were drawn out of a hat to be three judges with a term of office of only three years, as opposed to six years for the other four judges - in order to get the system of judge replacement every three years up and running.
In three years time, the 'Sevon Selection Committee' (names after its President, a former judge at the European Court of Justice) will select three new judges. Although its application has been challenged, the judge selection procedure by a Committee of the Wise is seen by many as a step forward with regard to the selection procedure at the European Court of Justice and the European Court of First Instance. The European Constitution foresees a pre-selection procedure by a committee of seven lawyers, one of which appointed by the European Parliament, but in its absence, the fifty judges at the two European Courts and the Court of Justice's eight Advocate Generals are directly appointed by their governments with the tacit agreement of the other Member States.
Rita Ciccone - number eight by order of merit on the Sevon list of potential candidates to become judges at the Civil Service Court - former Secretary General of the Italian competition authority when Giuseppe Tesauro was its President, has been appointed law clerk to the Portuguese judge at the European Court of First Instance, Maria Eugenia Martins Ribeiro.