Recruitment of Unified Patent Court judges to begin next month

The UPC Preparatory Committee has announced the selection of judges will start soon.

During its 15th meeting, on 14 April 2016 in Luxembourg, agreement was reached on the recruitment package. In its report on the meeting the Preparatory Committee writes this means 'adverts for judicial appointments can be advertised in May. The exact date of the launch is to be agreed but for those interested it is expected the recruitment process will begin in early May.'

Last month agreement had already been reached on the judges' salaris. A judge in the Court of First Instance will earn €132,000 net per year. Judges in the Court of Appeal will have an annual income to €144,000. It is expected about fifty judges will be hired, most of them part-time.

In the negotiations on the creation of the Unitary Patent system it has been agreed that the first president of the Court of First Instance will be a Frenchman.

In another development, the 'Chairman was pleased to hear that Bulgaria is in a position to ratify the UPCA by the end of April. This will bring the total number of ratifications to 10.'