Verica Trstenjak


Verica Trstenjak is a Slovenian Doctor of Laws and Professor of European Law. From 2006 to 2012 she has been an Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, from 2004 to 2006 judge of the General Court.

Early legal work

Verica Trstenjak passed her bar exam in 1987 and obtained her doctor's degree at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana in 1995. She worked as a head of the legal service at the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia between 1994 and 1996, and as State Secretary at the same ministry between 1996 and 2000. In 2000 she held a post of a Secretary-General of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.
She has cooperated also with non-governmental organizations in Slovenia and contributed to preparation of Foundations Act. From 1997 to 2000 she was also a leader of the working group 17 for the accession negotiations of Slovenia with EU.

Work in professorships

Verica Trstenjak pursued her doctoral studies at the University of Zürich, the Institute of Comparative Law of the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Private International Law in Hamburg, and the Free University of Amsterdam. In 1996 she became a professor for Theory of Law and State and Private Law, and in 2006 a full professor for Civil and European Law.
She was a visiting professor at the universities of Vienna, Freiburg , in Hamburg and at the universities in Heidelberg, Bonn, Salzburg, Zürich, Liechtenstein, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Haag and Ferrara. She gave various lectures outside the EU at the universities in Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Until 2006 she was a member of the Study Group on a European Civil Code.
She has published more than 300 legal articles and several books on European and private law; she gives speeches at numerous international conferences in Slovenia and abroad.
She is a visiting professor of Masters Study at the until 2013 and of Masters Study at the European Law Faculty in Nova Gorica, Slovenia as well as at the University of Vienna.
After her mandate at the CJEU had ended she was appointed Professor of European Law at the Law Faculty of the University of Vienna in 2013. Furthermore she holds lectures at the universities of Ljubljana and Maribor. She teaches at the summer schools in Salzburg, Strobl and Alpbach.
In 2012 she was appointed external scientific member of the newly established in Luxembourg. Since 2017 she is a member of the Management and Executive Board of the FRA - European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights as well as the Advisory Committee of the international law organisation Energy Community.

Societies and honors

Member of Editorial boards of a number of legal periodicals in Slovenia and abroad:
Member of Scientific boards:
Member of a number of Lawyers' Associations:
In 2003 she won a prize of the Association of Slovene Lawyers, 'Lawyer of the Year 2003'.

Work at the Court of Justice of the EU

She worked as a judge at the Court of First Instance of the European Communities from 7 July 2004 to 6 October 2006 and was an Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union from 7 October 2006 to 28 November 2012.

Selection of some relevant published articles

1. Consumer protection
2. Social and labour law
3. Intellectual property law
4. Corporate law
5. Public procurement
6. Immigration and asylum law
7. Health policy
8. Other