Christiaan Willem Anton Timmermans (born 6 December 1941) is a Dutch law professor and judge. He was a judge at the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

between 2000 and 2010.

Early life

Timmermans was born in 1941 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. From 1953 to 1959 he attended the Sint Francisucscollege in Rotterdam. From 1959 to 1966 he studied law at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

and specialized in private law.

Career

Timmermans pursued a career as law clerk in the

, working there between 1966 and 1969. He then worked as an official for the Commission of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...

between 1969 and 1977. In 1973 he obtained a Ph.D. in law at

; his doctoral thesis, titled ''De administratieve rechter en beoordelingsvrijheden van bestuursorganen: een rechtsvergelijkend onderzoek naar de controle van de administratieve rechter op de uitoefening van beoordelingsvrijheden van bestuursorganen in het nationale recht en het gemeenschapsrecht'' (''The administrative judge and freedoms of assessment of administrative bodies: a comparative legal inquiry into the control of the administrative judge on the exercise of freedoms of assessment of administrative bodies in national law and Community law'') was supervised by Herman Hendrik Maas. He subsequently worked as a professor of European Law at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

between 1977 and 1989. Between 1989 and 2000 he was deputy director-general of the Legal Service at the European Commission. While in this position he wrote a handbook on European Union law together with Richard Lauwaars. In 1991 Timmermans was made foreign correspondent of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. From 1999 to 2003 he was a part time professor of European law at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. On 7 October 2000 Timmermans was appointed as a judge of the

. He succeeded Paul Joan George Kapteyn as the Dutch judge. From 2003 to 2009 he served as president of a chamber of judges. Timmermans himself was succeeded as judge by Sacha Prechal on 10 June 2010 and she would sit out of the reminder of his term until 2012. After his return to the Netherlands, Timmermans served as professor at the Law faculty ( Pieter Sanders professorship) at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humanist ...

between 2010 and 2012. From 2016 until 2019, he also served on the Commission's Independent Ethical Committee.

Other activities

British Institute of International and Comparative Law British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, Member of the Advisory Council *

T.M.C. Asser Instituut The T.M.C. Asser Instituut (or ''Asser Institute'') is a professional inter-university centre of knowledge and research. The institute carries out research in private and public international law, European law, as well as all other related fields, ...

, Member of the Advisory Council on International Law *

European Law Institute The European Law Institute (ELI) is an independent non-profit organisation established to initiate, conduct and facilitate research, make recommendations and provide practical guidance in the field of European legal development with a goal of enh ...

, Member of the Projects Committee *

, Foreign Correspondent *

European Anti-Fraud Office The European Anti-Fraud Office (commonly known as OLAF, from the french: Office européen de lutte antifraude) is a body mandated by the European Union (EU) with protecting the Union's financial interests. It was founded on 28 April 1999, unde ...

(OLAF), Member of the Supervisory Committee (2012–2015)Charlie Dunmore (October 25, 2012)
Ex-EU health chief vows to fight tobacco bribe links
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmermans, Christiaan 1941 births Living people 21st-century Dutch judges Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Academic staff of the University of Groningen Dutch judges of international courts and tribunals Dutch legal scholars European Court of Justice judges Leiden University alumni Lawyers from Rotterdam Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences