Maciej Szpunar
First Advocate General, Court of Justice of the European Union
Maciej Szpunar is the First Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union and a professor at the University of Silesia. Born in 1971 in Kraków, Poland, he holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Silesia and an LL.M. from the College of Europe in Bruges.
Since joining the CJEU as an Advocate General in 2013, Szpunar has delivered influential opinions in several high-profile cases, including those affecting the iGaming and gambling industry. Notably, he opined on the UK-Gibraltar point-of-consumption tax (Case C‑591/15) and on YouTube’s liability for hosting illegal gambling advertising (Case C‑527/24). His legal reasoning has shaped the application of EU law in cross-border gambling regulation.
Before his appointment to the CJEU, Szpunar served as Undersecretary of State at the Office of the Committee for European Integration (2008–2009) and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2010–2013). He is a member of several prestigious legal bodies, including the European Group for Private International Law and the Research Group on Existing EC Private Law. He also serves as President of the Polish Association of European Law and was President of FIDE from 2023 to 2025.