Long‑serving Superior Court magistrate Yves Picod to retire in June 2026

Yves Picod, a magistrate of the Superior Court of Justice, will retire on 30 June 2026. His mandate had been renewed in November 2023, and he is the court’s longest‑serving magistrate.

Picod is primarily assigned to the criminal chamber and holds a secondary assignment in the civil chamber. Since December 2024 he has served on the ethics commission of the High Council for the Judiciary as a representative of the magistrates.

He began his relationship with the Andorran judiciary in 1991, when he was appointed as a substitute judge to the Tribunal de Corts. Over the years he has presided over the criminal chamber and, by seniority, the chamber’s plenary, taking part in numerous high‑profile cases. In one notable trial, his interventions and questioning were cited as decisive in the acquittal of Carine Montaner on charges of revealing secrets.

Picod had previously retired from the French administration of justice and, until his decision to step down, was the only French jurist on the Superior Court’s criminal chamber following the withdrawal of Marie Conte. His departure will leave the chamber without French representation unless a jurist of the same nationality is appointed.

Academically, Picod holds a doctorate in law from the University of Dijon. He was a law professor at the University of Perpignan and co‑founded the Centre for Economic Law and Development. He has published several manuals and textbooks on private law, particularly on consumer law, company law and the law of obligations.

The High Council for the Judiciary reported Picod’s decision at a recent meeting chaired by Josep Maria Rossell; the council also approved the continuous training plan for 2026 at that session.