Buhagiar and Stoynev take oath as General Court judges until 2031

Andria Buhagiar and Ivan Stoynev have taken the oath as Judges of the General Court of the European Union, formalising an appointment that runs from 5 October 2026 to 31 August 2031. The oath was sworn before the Court of Justice on 7 October 2026 and is announced in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, of 9 November 2026, under reference C/2026/5939. The underlying appointment was made by the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States in Decision (EU) 2026/2235 of 30 September 2026.

The two nominations fill part of a wider renewal: as the appointing decision records, the terms of office of 26 Judges of the General Court expired on 31 August 2025. Buhagiar and Stoynev were nominated for a first term of office, and the panel set up under Article 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union gave a favourable opinion on their suitability to perform the duties of judges of the General Court.

Legal basis and terms of the appointment

Decision (EU) 2026/2235, adopted in Brussels on 30 September 2026 and signed by the President, A. O’Donoghue, rests on Article 19 of the Treaty on European Union and on Articles 254 and 255 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Its operative part reads:

• Ms Andria Buhagiar, appointed as Judge of the General Court.
• Mr Ivan Stoynev, appointed as Judge of the General Court.
• Term of office: from the date of entry into force of the decision to 31 August 2031.
• Entry into force: the date of publication in the Official Journal, which took place on 5 October 2026.

Oath before the Court of Justice

The swearing-in took place on 7 October 2026, two days after the appointing decision entered into force. The notice published on 9 November 2026 records the sequence in a single paragraph: appointment by decision of the member states’ representatives of 30 September 2026, followed by the oath before the Court of Justice. Their taking of office is separately recorded by the General Court itself, which amended its decisions on the formation of Chambers and on the assignment of Judges to Chambers for the period from 8 October 2026 to 31 August 2028 (C/2026/5632, Official Journal C series, 30 October 2026).

Chamber assignments and court composition

Alongside the oath, the General Court published the practical consequences of the two arrivals:

• Buhagiar joins the Sixth Chamber, sitting with five Judges under the presidency of P. Škvařilová-Pelzl, and appears in three-Judge formations B, D and E of that Chamber.
• Stoynev joins the Ninth Chamber, presided by S. Kingston, together with A. Marcoulli, P. Zilgalvis and J. Hettne.
• The reshuffle followed the election of M.J. Costeira as Vice-President of the General Court on 23 September 2026 for the period to 31 August 2028 (C/2026/5130, Official Journal C series, 1 October 2026).
• The First, Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Chambers are responsible for cases concerning intellectual property rights under Title IV of the Rules of Procedure; the Second and Fifth Chambers also handle requests for a preliminary ruling.

Why it matters

The General Court is the EU’s busiest judicial instance, with 54 Judges according to the European Parliament’s assessment of the Union’s courts published in 2026, and its composition directly affects how quickly and how consistently cases are decided. The arrival of two judges for a full term to 2031 consolidates the bench after the expiry of 26 mandates in August 2025, and their immediate integration into the Sixth and Ninth Chambers shows the practical effect: intellectual-property litigation and the Chamber formations that hear it now count on two additional members.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/5939, 9 November 2026 (official reference: C/2026/5939).