Bot served as a public prosecutor in several French cities, including time as the principal public prosecutor before the Paris high court and as the attorney general responsible for the Paris appeals court.

Nicole Belloubet, France’s justice minister, praised Bot’s ability “to handle the most complex situations with serenity” and said “France has lost a great magistrate” in a press announcement on 9 June.

Bot had been one of 11 advocates general at the ECJ since 2006. Advocates general issue preliminary opinions on cases before they are considered by a panel of ECJ judges.

Among his better known recommendations: that the EU-Canada free trade deal’s investment court was in line with European law, Poland’s logging of primeval forest violated European law, the EU-US “safe harbour” data sharing agreement was “illegal” and that Ryanair should reimburse stranded passengers following the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption.

According to a press statement (PDF) issued by the ECJ on 11 June:

“Mr Yves Bot was a staunch defender of the values of the European Union and worked throughout his career both to make the justice system more humane and to bring it closer to the people whom it serves.”

The cause of death was not announced.