It is with great sadness and profound sorrow that we learnt of the passing of a dear colleague and friend, Antonio Vercher Noguera (Spain), who had only recently retired as the Chief Prosecutor for Environment and Land Planning of Spain.

All CCPE members and CCPE Secretariat express their deepest condolences to Antonio’s family, friends and colleagues.

Antonio’s unparalleled contribution to the CCPE work has been truly outstanding. He was elected President of the CCPE three times, once as late as last year, and presided over and skilfully conducted many CCPE meetings, including plenaries and Bureau’s and Working Group’s meetings, with the highest professional competence and always paying careful attention to all Council of Europe standards. Antonio was also extremely well-informed of all legal developments within the European Union framework. He also closely followed the case law of both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. His direct participation in drafting many CCPE Opinions resulted in integrating all these standards for the benefit of the prosecutorial profession, including, among others, the CCPE’s landmark Opinion No. 17 (2022) on the role of prosecutors in the protection of the environment which was strongly indebted to Antonio’s commitment and knowledge.

But Antonio will be remembered not only for his professional competence, intellectual rigor and his unwavering commitment to justice and the protection of fundamental values, but equally for his generosity, human touch and friendly approach, his sense of humour, and just as the most pleasant, open-minded, co-operative and constructive colleague and friend.

The CCPE will greatly miss Antonio and will always recall his great contribution to its work as well as his friendly attitude, directing and steering discussions, proposing new ideas and innovative solutions, and highlighting and promoting the standards for the independent, impartial and efficient work of prosecutors across Europe and beyond.