Advocates General at the Court of Justice: Any Doubts? Part II ; Generaliniai advokatai Teisingumo Teisme: ar kyla abejonių? II dalis

Abstract

The article continues a brief overview of some features of Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union and analyses the influence of their opinions on the case law of the Court. It focuses on the opinions of Advocates General and the judgments of the Court both when the AG propositions are followed and when they are not.The provided analysis leads to several concluding remarks. Firstly, Advocates General play an important role in generating progressive legal ideas and actively participate in the relevant legal debate. Some AGs propositions had impact on the landmark judgments that form the basics of the EU case law. Secondly, for new legal issues, Advocates General become pioneers that inspire the development of jurisprudence. AGs' opinions play the role of a starting point for the Court as well. Even if their proposals are not followed, they frequently become the first voiced perspectives on some issues, and this has an inevitable impact at least on legal debates and studies. Thirdly, Advocates General opinions are more informal than Court of Justice judgments and therefore often contain elements that provide a more extensive presentation about the issue at stake. Certain metaphors employed by the AGs help theoretical legal construction, or "the law in books" to be converted into "the law in action," which is more understandable for the general public.