Andreas Voßkuhle
| Andreas Voßkuhle | |
|---|---|
| File:2016-10-03 Andreas Voßkuhle (Tag der Deutschen Einheit 2016 in Dresden) by Sandro Halank.jpg | |
| President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany | |
| In office 16 March 2010 – 22 June 2020 |
|
| Nominated by | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Deputy | Ferdinand Kirchhof, Stephan Harbarth |
| Preceded by | Hans-Jürgen Papier |
| Succeeded by | Stephan Harbarth |
| Vice President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 16 March 2010 |
|
| Nominated by | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| President | Hans-Jürgen Papier |
| Preceded by | Winfried Hassemer |
| Succeeded by | Ferdinand Kirchhof |
| Judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany | |
| In office 7 May 2008 – 22 June 2020 |
|
| Nominated by | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Preceded by | Winfried Hassemer |
| Succeeded by | Astrid Wallrabenstein |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 December 1963 Detmold, West Germany |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Spouse(s) | Eva Voßkuhle |
| Alma mater | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
Andreas Voßkuhle (born 21 December 1963) is a German legal scholar who served as the president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 2010 until 2020.
Contents
Early life and education
Voßkuhle was born and grew up in the small western German city of Detmold, where his father was a lawyer specializing in administrative law.[1] Baptized into Lippische Landeskirche, one of Germany's few Reformed member churches. He started studying law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Bayreuth between 1983 and 1989. In 1989 he passed the first Staatsexamen. Before he completed the second Staatsexamen in 1993 he wrote his doctoral thesis (German title Rechtsschutz gegen den Richter [Legal protection against the judge]) under supervision of Peter Lerche.
Career
Between 1992 and 1994, Voßkuhle was a research fellow at the chair for public law in Augsburg. Later, in 1995, he worked as a referent in the Ministry of the Interior of the Free State of Bavaria. Following his habilitation at the University of Augsburg in 1998, he became a full professor at the University of Freiburg in 1999 as well as the head of their institute for political science and the philosophy of law. Additionally, he held various positions including faculty director of the law faculty.
Since 2007 he is also an ordinary member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Later, in July 2007, he became the head of the University of Freiburg as well. He started to work in this position in April 2008.
In May 2008, Voßkuhle became the vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany and the chairman of its second senate. He was the second choice of the SPD, after their initial candidate, Horst Dreier, was rejected by the CDU because of his position regarding stem cell research and torture.[2] When the mandate of the former President of the Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier ended in 2010, Voßkuhle became the youngest President in the history of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
In February 2012, Chancellor Angela Merkel offered Voßkuhle the opportunity to succeed Christian Wulff as President of Germany, after the president's resignation. He later declined the offer.[1]
The term of office of a judge on the Federal Constitutional Court is 12 years and cannot be extended. Therefore, his term ends on 6 May 2020.
Controversy
After Norbert Lammert, the President of the Bundestag, criticized the court's 2009 ruling on the Treaty of Lisbon, Voßkuhle wrote in an essay for the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that Lammert's statements were "strong words for a non-lawyer" and hardly served to "foster a culture of respect." Lammert eventually came around and upon "second reading" declared the court's ruling "a brilliant legal concept."[1]
Personal life
He is married. His wife is Eva Voßkuhle. They do not have any children.[3]
Other activities
- Karlsruher Forum für Kultur, Recht und Technik, Member of the Board of Trustees
- Max Planck Society, Member of the Senate
- Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Member of the Board of Trustees
- Ernst Reuter Foundation for Advanced Study, Member of the Board of Trustees[4]
- Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Member of the Scientific Advisory Board[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dietmar Hipp (11 September 2012), Germany's Constitutional Court President: The Man Who Holds Europe's Destiny in His Hands Der Spiegel.
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- ↑ Board of Trustees Ernst Reuter Foundation for Advanced Study.
- ↑ Scientific Advisory Board Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
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- Articles containing German-language text
- 1963 births
- Living people
- German scholars of constitutional law
- Heads of universities in Germany
- Judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
- People from Detmold
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