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The Court of Justice takes formal notice of the fact that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the EU has the effect of bringing to an end the mandates of the British Members of the Institution with effect from 31 January 2020 at midnight.  The number of Judges of the Court of Justice and of the General Court, fixed at one for each Member State for the Court of Justice and two for each Member State for the General Court, is therefore reduced with immediate effect at the time of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.  On the other hand, in accordance with the declaration of the Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of 29 January 2020 on the consequences of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU for the Advocates General of the Court of Justice, the number of Advocates General of the Court of Justice, fixed at eleven by the Council Decision of 25 June 2013(2013/336/EU: Council Decision of 25 June 2013 increasing the number …

The EU’s discussions with Poland and Hungary have not yet led these countries to realign with the EU’s founding values, Parliament warned last January. In a resolution adopted with 446 votes to 178 and 41 abstentions, MEPs note that reports and statements by the Commission, the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe indicate that “the situation in both Poland and Hungary has deteriorated since the triggering of Article 7(1)”. MEPs point out that the hearings organised by the Council under Article 7 of the Treaty are neither regular nor structured. They call on the Council to address concrete recommendations to the countries concerned, including deadlines, to ensure EU law is respected. “The failure by the Council to make effective use of Article 7 continues to undermine the integrity of common European values, mutual trust and the credibility of the European Union as a whole”, claims the EP. The text also urges the Commission to use all tools at its disposal to prevent a serious breach of com…

Moroccan journalist and activist Omar Randy will stand trial in Morocco in March on charges of insulting a judge via Twitter, according to the Observatory for Human Rights. Randy, a 33-year-old award-winning journalist who has been involved in corruption reporting in Morocco and has worked with various international media outlets, was due to be sentenced on January 2, 2020, but the case was postponed. According to CNN, Randy faces up to one year in prison if he is eventually convicted of a tweet he made nine months ago against a judge. Several people rallied in support of Randy outside the country's parliament in the capital Rabat demanding his acquittal and speaking about revenge against a reporter for investigative journalism. Last April, Randy posted a critical comment about a judge who upheld the verdict against a protest movement. The leaders of the protest movement were sentenced in June 2018 to 20 years in prison, the Human Rights Watch said. "Let us all remember that Judge…

Emily O'Reilly has been re-elected as European Ombudsman, by Parliament with 320 votes in favour out of 600 votes cast. Her second mandate will last for five years.
"I am delighted to have been re-elected for a second term. I wish to sincerely thank my fantastic campaign team for the huge effort over the past four months, I wish to thank my colleagues in the Office for all their hard work over the past five years, and today most of all, I wish to thank the Members of the European Parliament,” said Ms O’Reilly. "For the next five years, I will help ensure the EU maintains the highest standards in administration, transparency and ethics. Europeans expect and deserve nothing less. One priority will remain tackling the lack of the transparency of EU law making by national governments in Brussels. We need to stop the ‘blame Brussels’ culture, when often it is citizens’ own national Ministers taking the key decisions in the EU. I will also be holding President Von der Leyen to he…