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Carl Baudenbacher | |
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| 4th President of the European Free Trade Association Court | |
| In office 2003–2017 | |
| Preceded by | Thór Vilhjálmsson |
| Succeeded by | Páll Hreinsson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 September 1947 Basel,Switzerland |
| Alma mater | University of Berne University of Zurich |
| Profession | Jurist,professor |
Carl Baudenbacher is a Swiss jurist. He has served as a judge of the EFTA Court from September 1995 to April 2018 and was the court's president from 2003 to 2017. He was a full professor at the University of St. Gallen from 1987 to 2013 and a permanent visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law from 1993 to 2004.
Baudenbacher attended the School of Law and Economics of the University of Berne from 1967 until 1971. He received his doctorate (Ph.D.) from the University of Berne in 1978 and his habilitation from the University of Zurich in 1982. Baudenbacher was an acting law professor at several prestigious German Universities and an associate professor at the University of Kaiserslautern,Germany. He held the chair of private,commercial and economic law at the University of St Gallen HSG,Switzerland,from 1987 to 2013. He was also the managing director of the Institute of European and International Business Law at the University of St Gallen HSG from 1990 to 2014. From 1993 to 2004 Baudenbacher was a permanent visiting professor for international and European law at the University of Texas School of Law. Baudenbacher founded directed the global postgraduate program Executive Master of European and International Business Law E.M.B.L.-HSG in 1995 and directed it until 2017. Baudenbacher was also the founder and chairman of the St Gallen International Competition Law Forum ICF. From 1999 to 2007,Baudenbacher co-chaired the Vienna Globalization Symposium together with the former vice-chancellor of the Republic of Austria,Erhard Busek. He was also a visiting professor at the University of Geneva (1989-1990) and at the University of Iceland (2009-2011).
Baudenbacher served as a member of the Supreme Court of the Principality of Liechtenstein between 1994 and 1995. In 1995 he was appointed judge of the EFTA Court upon a proposal of the Principality of Liechtenstein. From 2003 to 2017,he served as the Court's President. The EFTA Court hears cases originating from the EFTA States which are Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement (currently Iceland,Liechtenstein and Norway). The EEA Agreement has extended the EU single market to those EFTA States. It is based on a two pillar approach. Both pillars,the EU pillar and the EFTA pillar,have their own surveillance authority and their own court. EEA law which has been implemented into the legal orders of the EEA/EFTA States is capable of having direct effect and eventually takes precedence over conflicting national law. The EFTA Court has recognized EEA State liability. Moreover,EEA law must be interpreted in the light of fundamental rights. The EFTA Court is bound by homogeneity rules to follow or to take into account relevant ECJ case law. In the majority of its cases,it is,however,faced with novel legal questions and consequently has to ‘go first.’There are countless references to EFTA Court case law by the ECJ,its Advocates General,the General Court and high courts in Germany,Austria,the United Kingdom,Sweden,and Switzerland. In practice,the one-sided written homogeneity rules have largely been superseded by a "unique judicial dialogue" (ECJ Advocate General Verica Trstenjak). Frequently described as a very influential member of the Court,Baudenbacher acted as the Reporting Judge in a number of landmark cases including E-16/16 Fosen-Linjen;E-3/16 Ski Taxi;E-5/16 Vigeland,E-29/15 Sorpa;E-14/15 Holship Norge AS v Norsk Transportarbeiderforbund;E-4/15 Icelandic Financial Services Association v ESA;E-27/13 Gunnarsson;E-25/13;Engilbertsson;E-15/12 Wahl;E-16/11 Icesave;E-14/11 DB Schenker;E-15/10 Posten Norge;E-9/11 Regulated Markets I;E-18/11 Irish Bank;E-14/10 Konkurrenten;E-1/10 Periscopus;E-1/06 Gaming Machines;E-3/06 Ladbrokes;E-4/04 Pedicel;E-1/04 Fokus Bank;E-2/03 Ásgeirsson;E-3/02 Paranova v Merck;E-3/00 Kelloggs;E-1/99 Finanger;E-1/98 Astra Norge;E-3/97 Opel Norge;E-2/97 Maglite.
On 16 April 2011,the leading Norwegian business paper Dagens Næringsliv referred to President Baudenbacher as "King Carl of the EEA" and as "one of Norway's most powerful men." On 21 August 2017,The Times wrote in the context of Brexit:"Carl Baudenbacher is not shy about plunging into international geopolitics. As it turns out this is a good thing."
After his resignation from the EFTA Court bench,Baudenbacher has become an independent arbitrator and consultant. He has his own firm in St. Gallen (Switzerland) and is a member of Monckton Chambers,London. Baudenbacher is advising private clients including law firms. His specialties are coaching of lawyers' teams,writing legal opinions,acting as a mock trial judge. He was an arbitrator and an expert witness in international arbitration cases. Baudenbacher was the principal expert advisor to the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein during the multilateral negotiations on the establishment of a European Economic Area (EEA) from 1990 until 1994. He also advised the President,the Government and the Parliament of the Swiss Confederation on matters of European integration,competition law and copyright law,the Israeli Government on matters of unfair competition and trademark law and the Government of the Russian Federation on competition law,the UNCTAD and the OECD on matters of competition law,the British Government and the British Parliament on Brexit,the Icelandic Government on matters of EEA law. Professor Baudenbacher has furthermore advised the Court of Justice of the Andean Community and the Government of the Republic of Chile on its project for a new constitution. In 2014,he has served as a member of the independent five member Commission of the Austrian Government which investigated the events around the Hypo Group Alpe Adria (so-called ‘Griss-Commission’). Baudenbacher is a much sought-after speaker at international conferences in particular on competition law,EU/EEA Law,and the law of international adjudication and arbitration. He is also invited on a regular basis to speak on these topics at prestigious European,American,Asian and Latin American universities (including Basel,Berne,Bucerius,Cambridge,Cologne,Fudan,Geneva,Harvard,Jagiellonian University of Kraków,King's College London,Kyoto,Oxford,Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú-PUCP,Princeton,Tokyo,Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-UNAM,University of Texas at Austin,University of Tokyo,Vienna,Waseda,Zurich).
Baudenbacher published over 40 books and over 280 articles on European and International law,law of obligations,labour law,law of unfair competition,antitrust law,contract law,public procurement law,company law,intellectual property law,comparative law,arbitration and the law of international courts. In 2019 Baudenbacher published an op-ed harshly criticizing the Norwegian Attorney General for allegedly having worked over a 20-year period to undermine the EFTA rules and courts. [1]
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