He was the only candidate after Verica Trstenjak, the other nominee by President Borut Pahor, decided to withdraw her bid last week.

Ilešič has been at the European Court of Justice since 11 May 2004, and has been the president of the Third Chamber since October 2012.

Born in 1947, he studied at the Ljubljana Faculty of Law and earned a PhD degree there in 1984. He taught civil, commercial and private international law at the faculty for a number of years there and served as dean in 2001-2004.

Ilešič remained the only candidate for the post after Verica Trstenjak, who was the other nominee put forward by President Pahor, withdrew her bid last week.

Pahor decided to propose two candidates to the National Assembly after consultations with deputy groups failed to produce a clear front-runner.

The ruling SMC party favoured Ilešič, while the opposition Democrats (SDS) and New Slovenia (NSi) backed Trstenjak, who used to work as Advocate General at the court.

Withdrawing her bid, the 53-year-old Trstenjak said that Slovenia was not "progressive and modern enough yet" to back an expert with a "renowned international career and reputation, a woman, and favour youth".

Established in 1952, the Court of Justice comprises 27 judges, one from each member state, who serve six-year terms.

It is the highest court in matters of EU law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its equal application in all EU member states.