As announced after its 18th meeting last week (reported here), the UPC Preparatory Committee has today released an update (here) on the status of the judicial recruitment process. Having acknowledged that the outcome of the EU referendum in the UK will “to some extent” delay the entry into operation of the UPC, the Committee is reconsidering the time plan for the project and has now announced that the first adjustment to that plan will be to reschedule the interview and appointment stages of the judicial recruitment process. The Committee has not mentioned when the process is expected to continue.

A total of 840 applications for the roles of legal and technical judges were submitted by 4 July 2016, and the Preparatory Committee had been preparing the ground for the future Advisory and Administrative Committees to interview up to 280 applicants and to appoint 45 legal and 50 technical judges in permanent positions (with another 45 legal and 50 technical to be designated as ‘reserve’ judges) by the first months of 2017, in preparation for an entry into operation of the Court shortly thereafter. However, the appointment of judges is dependent on the entry into force of the UPC Agreement and its Protocol on Provisional Application, which will not take place until Germany and the UK have ratified. Applicants will be individually notified about this update.

The Preparatory Committee will announce further updates to its time plan in due course.