Francis Jacobs

For the American soccer player, see Francis Jacobs (soccer).

The Right Honourable Sir Francis Jacobs KCMG KC
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
Advocate General at the European Court of Justice
In office 1988–2006
Preceded by	The Lord Slynn of Hadley
Succeeded by	Dame Eleanor Sharpston
Personal details
Born	Francis Geoffrey Jacobs (1939-06-08) 8 June 1939
Children	5
Alma mater	Nuffield College, Oxford
Occupation	Judge
Profession	Barrister

Sir Francis Geoffrey Jacobs KCMG KC (born 8 June 1939) is a British jurist who served as Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Communities from October 1988 to January 2006. He was educated at the City of London School, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Mods and Greats (Classics), and Nuffield College, Oxford, where he read for a DPhil in Law. He practised as a barrister from Fountain Court Chambers in London. Jacobs has served as an official with the Secretariat of the European Commission of Human Rights, Professor of European Law at the University of London and Director of the Centre of European Law for King's College London School of Law. He is visiting professor at the College of Europe. He was appointed a Privy Councillor in December 2005.

On 4 December 2007, Jacobs was elected President of Missing Children Europe, the European Federation for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children.

He was President of the European Law Institute from 2011 to 2013.

He married in 1975 (as his second wife) Susan Cox, granddaughter of Michael Gordon Clark; they have three daughters and one son. He has one son by an earlier marriage.

See also

• List of members of the European Court of Justice

List of cases

• Case C-251/95 Sabel BV v Puma AG, Rudolf Dassler Sport [1997] ECR I-6214
• Case C-412/93 Leclerc-Siplec [1995] ECR I-00179
• Case C-34-36/95 De Agostini [1997] ECR I-3843
• Case C-409/95 Marschall v Land Nordrhein Westfalen [1997] ECR I-06363
• Case C-405/98 Gourmet International [2001] ECR I-1795
• Case C-50/00 Unión de Pequeños Agricultores (UPA) [2002] ECR I-6677
• Case C-153/02 Valentina Neri [2003] ECR I-13572
• Case C-147/03 Commission v Austria [2005] ECR I-5992
• Case C-421/04 Matratzen Concord AG v Hukla Germany SA [2006] ECR I-2322

Further reading

• Arnull, Anthony; Eeckhout, Piet; Tridimas, Takis (2008). Continuity and Change in EU Law: Essays in Honour of Sir Francis Jacobs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199219032.
• Butler, Graham; Lazowski, Adam (2022). Shaping EU Law the British Way: UK Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Oxford: Hart Publishing/Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781509950003.