Andorra's Senior French Magistrate Yves Picod Announces Retirement for 2026

Yves Picod, the longest-serving magistrate on Andorra's Tribunal Superior and the sole French national on its penal chamber, has formally notified the Consell Superior de la Justícia of his retirement effective 30 June 2026.

Picod, an economic law specialist, invoked article 68.1 of the Qualified Law of Justice to step down. His departure, announced during the Consell Superior's meeting on Wednesday under president Josep Maria Rossell, will leave the penal chamber without French representation unless a replacement of the same nationality is appointed. The body also approved the 2026 continuous training plan for judicial, prosecutorial, and administrative staff, as proposed by the pedagogical commission on 4 December 2025 and in line with article 38 bis of the Qualified Law of Justice.

A doctor of law from the University of Dijon, Picod taught at the University of Perpinyà, where he co-founded the Centre for Economic Law and Development. He has authored manuals on private law topics including consumer law, company law, and obligations. Already retired from the French justice system, Picod began his Andorran career in 1991 as a substitute judge at the Tribunal de Corts, during the era of the veguers and with François Mitterrand as French co-prince. He later presided over the Tribunal Superior's penal chamber and, by seniority, its plenary sessions. Renewed in office in November 2023, he holds primary assignment to the penal chamber and secondary to the civil chamber. Since December 2024, he has served on the Consell Superior's ethics commission as magistrates' representative.

The move underscores an ongoing generational shift and push for greater Andorranisation of the judiciary, a goal supported by local legal professionals but met with reservations from the bar and the Consell Superior over practical challenges.