Francis Geoffrey Jacobs

Sir Francis Jacobs, KCMG, QC is Professor of Law at King’s College London. He was previously Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (October 1988 – January 2006).

From 1974 to 1988 he was Professor of European Law in the University of London, and from 1981 to 1988 Director of the Centre of European Law at King’s College London. He was also in practice at the English Bar, and appeared frequently as Queen’s Counsel at the European Court of Justice. He is a Bencher of the Middle Temple.

He is the author of several books on European law, including books on the European Convention on Human Rights and on the European Court of Justice, and of many articles in legal journals. He was founding Editor of the Yearbook of European Law (Oxford University Press), and is chairman or member of the editorial advisory boards of many scholarly journals. He is General Editor of the Oxford EC Law Library.

He is chairman or member of the advisory board of several institutes of European law and is a trustee of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Recent university appointments include the visiting Marcel Storme Chair at the University of Ghent (2005-2006) and the LeRoy Fellowship at the University of Michigan (March 2006). He has recently been elected foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.

In November 2005 he was appointed a member of the Privy Council and he was knighted in the New Year’s Honours 2006.