Brussels, 16/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - Italian judge at the European Court of Justice Antonio La Pergola has just resigned for, he says, health reasons. The Italian government now will have to find a replacement to complete his period of tenure of office, which ends next October, and who will probably become the next Italian judge at the Court until 2012.
Born in 1931, Antonio La Pergola has been President of the Italian Constitutional Court, MEP and wa s a judge at the Court for a few months in 1994, when it was composed of 12 judges and a thirteenth was always required to retain the uneven number of judges. Advocate General at the Court between 1995 and 1999, Antonio La Pergola became a judge at the Court in December 1999 following the death of this fellow countryman, judge Federico Mancini.