Editing European Court of Justice (section)

===Advocates general===
{{Main|Advocate general (European Union)}}
The judges are assisted by eleven<ref name="Number of advocates general">{{citation | title = Court of Justice: Presentation | url =https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7024/en/#composition| quote = The Court of Justice is composed of 28 Judges and 11 Advocates General.}}</ref> [[Advocate general (European Union)|Advocates general]], whose number may be increased by the Council if the Court so requests. The Advocates General are responsible for presenting a legal opinion on the cases assigned to them. They can question the parties involved and then give their opinion on a legal solution to the case before the judges deliberate and deliver their judgment. The intention behind having advocates general attached is to provide independent and impartial opinions concerning the Court's cases. Unlike the Court's judgments, the written opinions of the advocates general are the works of a single author and are consequently generally more readable and deal with the legal issues more comprehensively than the Court, which is limited to the particular matters at hand.

The opinions of the advocates general are advisory and do not bind the Court, but they are nonetheless very influential and are followed in the majority of cases.<ref>Craig and de Búrca, page 70.</ref> In a 2016 study, Arrebola and Mauricio measured the influence of the advocate general on the judgments of the Court, showing that the Court is approximately 67% more likely to deliver a particular outcome if that was the opinion of the advocate general.<ref>Arrebola, Carlos and Mauricio, Ana Julia and Jiménez Portilla, Héctor, An Econometric Analysis of the Influence of the Advocate General on the Court of Justice of the European Union (January 12, 2016). Cambridge Journal of Comparative and International Law, Vol. 5, No. 1, Forthcoming; University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 3/2016. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2714259</ref> As of 2003, advocates general are only required to give an opinion if the Court considers the case raises a new point of law.<ref name="Europa info"/><ref name="Court ECJ">{{cite web |title=The Court of Justice of the European Communities |publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|Court of Justice]] |url=http://www.curia.europa.eu/en/instit/presentationfr/cje.htm |access-date=27 August 2007}}</ref>

According to Article 255 TFEU the judges and advocates-general are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states after consultation of a panel responsible for assessing candidates’ suitability.<ref name ="Appointment of advocates general">{{citation | title = THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION | url =http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/en/FTU_1.3.9.pdf | quote = ... The judges and advocates-general are appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States after consultation of a panel responsible for assessing candidates’ suitability (Article 255 TFEU).}}</ref>