Professor Carl Baudenbacher said the UK could free itself of the jurisdiction of the European Courts of Justice (ECJ) by joining Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein in the EFTA court.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has previously dismissed the notion, saying membership to EFTA would be “the worst of possible worlds”.
But Prof Baudenbacher insisted politicians “have difficulty in understanding the true relationship between the Efta court and the ECJ”.
He refuted claims EFTA was being “outgunned” by the ECJ, saying the relationship between the two courts was “one of dialogue”.
Prof Baudenbacher told MPs at a lecture organised by UKLegalFuture there was a precedent for EFTA winning a disagreement with the ECJ – over the marketing of Kellogs fortified cereal back in 2001.
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“ECJ case law said the national Government may ban the marketing if there is no nutritional need in the country,” Prof Baudenbacher said.
“It was a paternalistic approach, we and said we don’t follow the ECJ on this.
“The ECJ then overruled their own case law and followed us, and that made us very proud.”
The EFTA model allows Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to settle legal disputes on its own, largely free from ECJ interference.
However, the three nations remain part of the single market and must allow free movement, something Theresa May’s government has insisted it wants no more part of.
Yesterday Prof Baudenbacher was forced to defend the EFTA court during a radio interview on the Today programme.
BBC Radio 4 host Sarah Montague put it to her guest that the court needed the UK to bolster it against the ECJ.
Prof Baudenbacher replied: “It’s probably not right to say that we are keen [for Britain to join EFTA] – we are functioning fairly well and we are having a good time doing the job we have been assigned.
“But in fact, having been the president of this court for so long I am bound by some sort of institutional loyalty.
“I’d like the court to flourish because I think that we are doing an important job, we have never been outgunned in the past and it’s difficult to imagine we will be outgunned in the future.”