# Eleanor Sharpston > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Eleanor_Sharpston > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Eleanor_Sharpston.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Sharpston > Source revision: 1352630356 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British lawyer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use British English|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Dame | name = Eleanor Sharpston | honorific_suffix = [DCMG](/source/Dame_Commander_of_the_Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George) [KC](/source/King's_Counsel) | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | order = | office = Advocate General at the [European Court of Justice](/source/European_Court_of_Justice) | term_start = 11 January 2006 | term_end = 10 September 2020 | predecessor = Sir [Francis Jacobs](/source/Francis_Jacobs) | successor = [Athanasios Rantos](/source/Athanasios_Rantos) | birth_name = Eleanor Veronica Elizabeth Sharpston | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1955|07|13|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = David Lyon (1991–2000) | alma_mater = [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge) | occupation = }} '''Dame Eleanor Veronica Elizabeth Sharpston''', known informally as "Leo Sharpston"{{Cite web|url=https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/one-minute-with-joseph-howard|title=One minute with... Joseph Howard|website=Tax Journal}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boat-race/11466298/Boat-Face-2015-Famous-alumni-from-Oxford-and-Cambridge-who-have-taken-part-in-the-event-in-pictures.html|title=Boat Face 2015: Famous alumni from Oxford and Cambridge who have taken part in the event, in pictures|date=16 March 2015|website=The Telegraph}}[https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/kp-2005-autumn.pdf Leo Sharpston is new British Advocate General. ''King’s Parade'': a newsletter for members of King’s College, Cambridge. Autumn 2005.] (born 13 July 1955), is a British and Luxembourgish barrister who served as an [Advocate General](/source/Advocate_General_(European_Union)) at the [Court of Justice of the European Union](/source/Court_of_Justice_of_the_European_Union) (CJEU) from 2006 to 2020.{{Cite web|last=Rozenberg|first=Joshua|title=British lawyer kicked off EU court|url=https://rozenberg.substack.com/p/british-lawyer-kicked-off-eu-court|access-date=2020-09-10|website=rozenberg.substack.com|date=10 September 2020 }} ==Life== Sharpston studied economics, languages and law at [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge) (1973–77), followed by university teaching and research at [Corpus Christi College, Oxford](/source/Corpus_Christi_College%2C_Oxford) (1977–80). She was called to the Bar by the [Middle Temple](/source/Middle_Temple) in 1980 and was a [barrister](/source/barrister) in private practice from 1980 to 1987 and from 1990-2005; [King's Counsel](/source/King's_Counsel) (1999); and Bencher of Middle Temple (2005). In the intervening years (1987–90) she worked as legal secretary (referendaire) in the Chambers of Advocate General, subsequently Judge, Sir [Gordon Slynn](/source/Gordon_Slynn) later [Lord Slynn of Hadley](/source/Lord_Slynn_of_Hadley). She was also a lecturer in EC and [comparative law](/source/comparative_law) and Director of European Legal Studies at [University College London](/source/University_College_London) (1990–92), and then a lecturer (1992–98), and subsequently affiliated lecturer (1998–2005), in the Faculty of Law at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge). She was a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Legal Studies of the University of Cambridge (1998–2005) and remains a [fellow](/source/fellow) of King's College, Cambridge (since 1992).{{Cite web|url=https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/research/fellows/emeritus-fellows|title=Emeritus Fellows|website=King's College Cambridge}} Sharpston is also a member of the Irish Bar and an Honorary Bencher of King's Inns, Dublin. She has published books and articles on EU law. Having spent her childhood in [Brazil](/source/Brazil) and then her adolescence and half her practising life in continental Europe, she speaks a number of European languages.[http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/deli/annuallecture/Sharpston_bio_2006.pdf CV prepared for Durham University lecture ]2006 She holds dual nationality: British and Luxembourgish. She served as joint head of Hailsham Chambers in London, with her colleague Michael Pooles QC, from 2003 to 2006. Amongst her many high-profile cases at the Bar she was perhaps best known for acting (together with her colleague Philip Moser) for the prosecution in the case of the [Metric Martyrs](/source/Metric_Martyrs), ''[Thoburn v Sunderland City Council](/source/Thoburn_v_Sunderland_City_Council)'',{{Citation |last=LORD JUSTICE LAWS
and
MR JUSTICE CRANE |title=Thoburn v Sunderland City Council [2002] EWHC 195 (Admin) |date=18 February 2002 |url=http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2002/195.html |access-date=2026-05-05}} and for the appellants in the House of Lords case ''R v Brown'',{{cite BAILII|litigants=R v Brown|link=R v Brown|court=UKHL|division=|year=1993|num=19|para=|eucase=|parallelcite=1 AC 212|date=11 March 1993|courtname=auto|juris=}} often referred to by its police name of '[Operation Spanner](/source/Operation_Spanner)'. In 1991, she married David Lyon, a maritime historian and also a King's College alumnus whom she met through their mutual nautical interests; he died in 2000.{{Cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000427/ai_n14307265|title=Obituary, ''The Independent'', 27 April 2000}}{{deadlink|date=May 2024}} Nominated by the UK to serve as an Advocate General from 10 January 2006, this was renewed in 2009 and again in 2015. On 7 October 2008, she was appointed First Advocate General of the CJEU for one year.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} In 2010, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the [University of Glasgow](/source/University_of_Glasgow).{{Cite web|title=Honorary degree for European legal expert|url=https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/archiveofnews/2010/april/headline_146044_en.html|access-date=2021-02-24|website=www.gla.ac.uk|language=en}} On 21 July 2011, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from [Nottingham Trent University](/source/Nottingham_Trent_University). She holds further honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh and from Stockholm University.{{Cite web |last=Oliwsson |first=Natalie |title=2020 Stockholm environmental law lecture by Eleanor Sharpston - Stockholm Environmental Law and Policy Centre |url=https://www.su.se/stockholm-environmental-law-and-policy-centre/about-the-centre/2020-stockholm-environmental-law-lecture-by-eleanor-sharpston-1.567021 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=www.su.se |language=en}} In 2025 she was ellected an honorary fellow of [St Edmund's College, Cambridge](/source/St_Edmund's_College%2C_Cambridge).{{cite web |title=St Edmund’s College Fellows List |url=https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/college_fellows/#heading2-26 |website=Cambridge Reporter |access-date=8 April 2026}} She delivered three [Hamlyn Lectures](/source/Hamlyn_Lectures) in 2020, on-line, on the apt subject of ''The Great Experiment: Constructing a European Union under the Rule of Law from a Group of Diverse Sovereign States.''{{Cite web |date=2020-10-20 |title=Faculty of Advocates to kick off online Hamlyn Lectures |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/faculty-of-advocates-to-kick-off-online-hamlyn-lectures |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Irish Legal News |language=en}} In 2020, she brought judicial review proceedings against the EU over her removal from the CJEU following Brexit.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/may/01/british-lawyer-sues-eu-over-her-removal-from-its-court-due-to-brexit|title = British lawyer sues EU over her removal from its court due to Brexit| newspaper=The Guardian |date = May 2020 | last1=Bowcott | first1=Owen }}{{Cite journal |last=Lashyn |first=Serhii |date=2020 |title=Frankenstein's Court |url=https://verfassungsblog.de/frankensteins-court/ |journal=Verfassungsblog |doi=10.17176/20200629-224736-0}} On 6 October 2020 the [General Court](/source/General_Court_(European_Union)) dismissed her action. On 16 June 2021 the [Court of Justice of the European Union](/source/Court_of_Justice_of_the_European_Union) dismissed her appeal against that decision on the basis that her removal by a decision of the 27 remaining Member States was not subject to judicial review by the EU Courts.{{cite web|title=Press Release No 104/21|url=https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-06/cp210104en.pdf|website=Court of Justice of the European Union|access-date=9 August 2021|date=16 June 2021}} The judgment received mixed reactions from scholars. Some disagreed with the Court's opinion, deeming it a threat to judicial independence and the rule of law in the EU,{{Cite journal |last1=Kochenov |first1=Dimitry V. |last2=Butler |first2=Graham |date=2021 |title=Independence of the Court of Justice of the European Union: Unchecked Member States power after the Sharpston Affair |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eulj.12434 |journal=European Law Journal |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1–3 |pages=262–296 |doi=10.1111/eulj.12434 |s2cid=250030602 |issn=1351-5993|hdl=20.500.14018/13916 |hdl-access=free }} and pointing out "inconsistencies" in the Court's ruling and criticizing its refusal to review "acts of the Member States".{{Cite journal |title=Constitutional creativity or constitutional deception? Acts of the Member States acting collectively and jurisdiction of the Court of Justice |journal=[Common Market Law Review](/source/Common_Market_Law_Review) |url=https://kluwerlawonline.com/JournalArticle/Common+Market+Law+Review/58.6/COLA2021109 |last=Spaventa |first=Eleanor |issue=58 |volume=6 |pages=1697–1730 |doi=10.54648/cola2021109 |year=2021|url-access=subscription }} Others endorsed the outcome, although critically referring to how the Court approached its margins of judicial review.{{Cite journal |last=Lashyn |first=Serhii |date=2021 |title=The Unsuccessful Bid of the British Advocate-General to Remain on the Bench Despite Brexit |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2230.12651 |journal=The Modern Law Review |language=en |volume=84 |issue=6 |pages=1414–1426 |doi=10.1111/1468-2230.12651 |s2cid=236385986 |issn=0026-7961}} ==Honours== In December 2024, she was appointed Dame Commander of the [Order of St Michael and St George](/source/Order_of_St_Michael_and_St_George) (DCMG).{{cite web | title=Order of Saint Michael and Saint George | website=The Gazette | date=2024-12-30 | url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/4782535 | access-date=2025-01-29}}{{cite web | title=Eleanor Sharpston KC becomes a Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (DCMG) | website=Faculty of Law | date=2025-01-03 | url=https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/press/news/2025/01/eleanor-sharpston-kc-becomes-dame-commander-order-st-michael-and-st-george-dcmg | access-date=2025-01-29}} ==See also== *[List of members of the European Court of Justice](/source/List_of_members_of_the_European_Court_of_Justice) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book |first1=Graham |last1=Butler |first2=Adam |last2=Lazowski |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/9781509950003|title=Shaping EU Law the British Way: UK Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union |publisher=Oxford: Hart Publishing/[Bloomsbury](/source/Bloomsbury_Publishing) |date=2022 |isbn=9781509950003}} ==External links== * [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/2211822 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 27 November 2015 (video)] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpston, Eleanor}} Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English women lawyers Category:21st-century English lawyers Category:Advocates general of the European Court of Justice Category:Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:English legal scholars Category:English King's Counsel Category:20th-century King's Counsel Category:British officials of the European Union Category:British women legal scholars Category:20th-century British women lawyers Category:20th-century English women Category:20th-century English people Category:Dames Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Lawyers awarded damehoods Category:Naturalised citizens of Luxembourg --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eleanor Sharpston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Sharpston) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Sharpston?action=history)). 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