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. He was born in Pavilly and died in Boulogne-Billancourt.

Significantly, in his role as a judge at European Court of Justice, he gave the landmark decision in the case of Costa v ENEL, establishing the supremacy of EU law over member state's law.

After studying at college Jean-Baptiste-de-La-Salle in Rouen, he studied law at the University of Rouen and became a lawyer in Rouen and the Paris Court of Appeal in 1932.

He was the president of the Youth People's Democratic Party in 1936, and a Lieutenant at Fort Saint-Cyr in 1939, whereafter he became actively involved in the Resistance; He was a member of the steering committee of the Resistance movement.

In 1958, he was elected in the first constituency of the Hautes-Alpes.A member of two constituent national assemblies, he was elected MRP of the Seine, and retained his mandate during the three legislatures of the Fourth Republic. He chaired the MRP group of the National Assembly and he was also a member of the Association of MRP until his death.

He served as judge on the European Court of Justice from 1962 to 1976, and as President of the Court from 1967 to 1976. On 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.

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