Alessandra, the Legal Expert Who Contributes to Ensuring That the Work of the Court of Justice Is Not Only for Insiders

HER WORK IS SUPPORTED BY THE COURT OF JUSTICE, AS TOLD BY THE ALUMNA, A LAWYER AT THE RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION DIRECTORATE. BUT IT NEEDS TO BE DIGITIZED AND DISSEMINATED AND SENTENCES NEED TO BE EXPLAINED – ALL IN THE NAME OF TRANSPARENCY

"The cases brought before the Court of Justice in 2022 mainly covered issues related to the fundamental values of the EU, as well as cases related to taxation, consumer protection and the protection of personal data. The General Court heard cases concerning intellectual property, the European civil service, state aid and institutional law," says Alessandra Tirrito, a lawyer at the Court of Justice of the European Union and a former student at Bocconi University with a Master of Arts in Law. In all, 1,666 cases were closed last year, in response to a substantial amount of judiciary activity, as highlighted by the Court's Annual Report.

In particular, Tirrito works in the Research and Documentation Directorate at the Court of Justice of the European Union. It has a dual task. On the one hand, to make resources in the field of comparative law, identified by a team of about 60 lawyers from all European legal backgrounds, including seconded national experts, available to the two EU courts, the General Court and the Court of Justice. On the other hand, the Directorate contributes to the dissemination of EU case-law through its analytical activities. "We contribute to the Court of Justice’s digital dissemination, systematizing our contributions in response to not only an increase in the number of references for preliminary rulings but also, and above all, work that tends to lead to progressively more thorough examinations of requests for preliminary rulings," Tirrito explains. "Overall, we aim to make our work accessible by explaining our decisions to the widest possible audience, which includes not only professionals. For example, when a decision is reported, the intention is to make a document available that explains the key steps of the ruling, providing more than just summarizing its technical content. The Court’s staff therefore includes a series of experts with diversified skills who can follow the broad transversality of the subjects dealt with by the Court itself."

by Camillo Papini
Translated by Jenna Walker