Court of Justice 18 June 2026, C-582/24 (Opinion of Advocate General Norkus delivered on 18 June 2026.)

Also known as

In this Opinion delivered on 18 June 2026 in Case C-582/24 P (PB v Single Resolution Board), Advocate General Norkus addresses the first, second, fourth, and fifth limbs of the first part of the first ground of appeal, concerning the principle of objective impartiality, transparency, and confidentiality in the handling of a request for assistance under Article 24 of the Staff Regulations. The Advocate General opines that neither prior knowledge of an official's situation by the Chief Compliance Officer, nor the hierarchical position of the Chair and Vice-Chair, nor the consultation of the Vice-Chair during the preliminary assessment, is sufficient in itself to give rise to a legitimate doubt as to objective impartiality, absent concrete and objectively verifiable evidence of a conflict of interest or undue influence; and that the right of access to documents in such procedures is limited to information necessary for the effective exercise of the right to be heard, while confidentiality does not impose absolute secrecy but only requires that disclosure be limited to what is strictly necessary for the investigation. The Advocate General proposes that the Court reject all four limbs under examination, finding no error of law in the General Court's overall assessment, notwithstanding a subsidiary defect in the grounds relating to the use of the outcome of the procedure as evidence of objective impartiality.AI