When Anna Marcoulli first considered Law as a career, it wasn’t out of a lifelong dream to stand in court or a flash of inspiration that came during a dramatic TV legal drama.
“I had finished the economics section at school and realised I didn’t want to deal with Economics,” she says matter-of-factly. While sitting in a courtroom gallery a few times didn’t exactly thrill her, the legal profession seemed like a pragmatic choice. “It was a versatile study I could pursue,” she recalls.
Pragmatism, it turns out, is something of a theme in Marcoulli’s career. In 2016, she was appointed as Judge of the EU’s General Court – the first instance court of the EU – and three years later, elected by her peers as President of the Sixth Chamber. Like that of several of her colleagues, her journey to the bench began from the other side of the bar.
In 1997, after completing her legal training, she spent a year in Corporate Law at Antis Triantafyllides & Sons LLC, one of the island’s top law firms. “I actually loved it,” she admits. “It was a very good working environment. Leaving was a tough decision.” But in 1998, a new unit was being formed in Cyprus’ Legal Service to handle accession negotiations with the EU. “Given my EU Law background, it was too good to pass up,” she says.
Private to public service transition
That transition from private practice to public service would shape her career, first at the national level, then at the Court of Justice as seconded national expert and with the European Commission’s Legal Service and, finally, as a judge. Along the way, she picked up not just legal expertise but a management philosophy built on respect, adaptation and a deep understanding of how people work together. “When you’ve worked under good bosses and in effective teams, it stays with you,” she reflects. “Now, heading a chamber of my own, those experiences influence the way I manage – how I listen, when to give space and how to bring differing views together.” It’s a necessary skill.
As President of Chamber, typically composed of five three judges but usually adjudicating cases in panel formations of three, she’s primus inter pares; first among equals. Judges at the General Court decide collectively and dissenting opinions aren’t published. “Sometimes, consensus comes easily but in high-stakes or technically complex cases, my role is to synthesise, propose compromises and keep discussions focused,” she says. “At the end of the day, we need to reach a final decision.”
So, it’s like conducting an orchestra, trying to harmonise a few off-key instruments?
She laughs. “It is!”
Becoming a judge
Before joining the bench in 2016, Marcoulli spent years representing the Commission before EU courts, handling everything from infringement procedures to defending legislative acts. That role, she explains, required a different mindset. “As part of the Legal Service, you advise the Executive. You have to tell them honestly when something is legally sound, when it carries legal risk and when it’s simply not legally viable.” In court, she acted as an agent for the Commission, mainly in cases filed before the EU Courts in Greek. “You could improvise a little during hearings,” she notes, “but only if you knew the file inside out. Some annexes ran into thousands of pages.” Still, her decision to apply for a judgeship didn’t come naturally. “When I first considered it, I thought, ‘Come on. Are you serious? You are applying for that?'”
So, there was a bit of ‘imposter syndrome’ involved?
“Maybe. I believe it is normal to feel the challenge of assuming such high responsibilities when applying for it.”
In 2016, the number of judges at the EU's General Court doubled to cut down the case backlog, creating a second seat for Cyprus. “I was lucky. There were other good candidates. I suppose my practical experience in EU law and inside knowledge of the EU institutions were factors that worked in my favour.” The application process was, she says, “the most gruelling experience.” After being nominated nationally, she had to face a high-level interview panel in Brussels. “All my colleagues still remember every minute of that interview,” she laughs.
The cases that stand out
At just 42, she became the youngest judge of her intake. A decade on, the job still excites her, particularly the complexity of the cases, where expectation goes beyond mastering legal nuances to economic theories and technical specifications. Two cases stand out, both dealing with alleged antitrust violations. In one, where she sat as a reporting judge, the Court annulled a €1 billion fine imposed on Qualcomm by the Commission in 2018 for abusing dominance by making payments to Apple conditional on the tech giant buying certain chipsets exclusively, preventing rivals from competing. “It was a deeply technical competition case,” she explains. “We found that the Commission hadn’t sufficiently proved that Apple’s decision to source chipsets exclusively from Qualcomm was driven by financial incentives rather than technical specifications.” The Commission did not bring sufficient evidence to establish that other competitors could match the technical requirements that Apple had for its iPhones. “And there was no appeal, which is quite impressive, because the Commission will usually appeal when its decisions are quashed.”
In contrast, a 2018 case involving Google upheld the Commission’s decision to fine the company over €4 billion – the largest fine ever imposed in a competition case. The key issue was that Google required Android device manufacturers and mobile network operators to pre-install Google Search and Chrome browser apps as a condition of licensing the Google Play Store, a practice found to unfairly limit competition, ultimately reducing consumer choice.
These kinds of rulings, Marcoulli points out, have implications beyond the courtroom. “They shape Europe’s digital landscape,” she stresses. They were part of the reason for introducing frameworks like the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, as traditional competition tools weren’t always fast enough to keep up with the evolution of the digital sector.
However, more regulation, which could also result from different crisis at the EU and international level, tends to breed more litigation. “We're seeing it already. The banking union, digital markets, sanctions, access to institutional documents relating to the pandemic – these areas are very litigious,” she says. At the more everyday end of the docket, approximately one-third of the Court’s cases relate to trademarks registered at EU level, often overlooked, but important for individuals and businesses alike.
Avoiding overreliance on AI-assisted tools
While the court continues to grapple with increasingly complex subject matters, another force is quietly reshaping the legal landscape: Artificial Intelligence. “I recently looked up a judgment online and clicked the ‘AI summary’ option,” she says. “It wasn’t perfect but it gave a decent overview.”
Marcoulli is open to AI-assisted tools, particularly for translation and document analysis, but warns against overreliance. “There’s a risk that young lawyers won’t learn how to reason if machines do all the groundwork. I had to photocopy judgments, highlight them line by line and make first drafts for court submissions. That process teaches you how to think,” she notes. Pragmatism again and a quiet conviction that in law, as in life, good judgment lies in striking the right balance.
(Original photo by TASPHO)
This interview first appeared in the August edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.
