Communication | Doc. 14884 | 30 April 2019

Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights

List and curricula vitae of candidates submitted by the Government of Germany

Author(s): Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly

1. List and curricula vitae of candidates submitted by the Government of Germany

Letter from Mr Rolf Mafael, Ambassador of Germany to the Council of Europe, to Mr Wojciech Sawicki, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly, dated 14 March 2019.

[…]

With reference to your letter, dated 4 June 2018, I am pleased to inform you that the German Federal Government has decided to nominate Mr Thilo Marauhn, Ms Christiane Schmaltz and Ms Anja Seibert-Fohr, in alphabetical order, as candidates for the election as Judge to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Government's decision was taken at a Cabinet session on 30 January 2019.

[…]

2. Information on national selection procedure for the position of a judge of the European Court of Human Rights

The procedure for the nomination of candidates has followed the same established practice as in the previous nomination round (2010).

Advertisement to announce the vacancy

The Human Rights Division of the Federal Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection, in consultation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Federal Chancellor’s office, drafted a request for applications which stated the necessary requirements for being considered for inclusion in the candidates’ list. The requirements took into account the European Convention on Human Rights and the relevant texts passed by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers, laying stress on relevant experience in the field of Human Rights and linguistic abilities. [...]

The request announcing the possibility of seeking to become the Government’s candidates to the office of Judge at the European Court of Human Rights was published in the first week of June 2018 in several major newspapers. It was also published as a press notice on the website of the Federal Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection on 2 June 2018. In addition, the request was sent out to the Presidents of all Federal Courts, the justice ministers and senators of the Länder, the German Judges Association, the Federal Chamber of Advocates, the German Advocates Association, the German National Institute for Human Rights and the Forum Human Rights (the national umbrella organisation of NGOs in the field of Human Rights), asking them to nominate suitable candidates or to encourage them to apply. All applications, whether sent in by these organizations or by individual applicants, were treated in exactly the same way.

The deadline for announcing interest in being included in the list of candidates was set at 20 July 2018.

24 persons applied for inclusion in the list of candidates.

Evaluation of the applicants

The Human Rights Division of the Federal Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection analysed the applications and checked the information on the qualifications against the requirements set out in the request for applications. On this basis, taking into account the experience and known expertise of applicants in the field of the European Convention and human rights law in general, the applicants were evaluated for inclusion in the list.

Interviews with candidates

Interviews were conducted with the most promising applicants. These took place at the Federal Ministry with the State Secretary Mrs Christiane Wirtz, the Head of the international department, Mrs Almut Wittling-Vogel, and the Director of the Public Law and International Law division of the Federal Ministry, Mr Alfred Bindels. The qualifications of the applicants, including their linguistic abilities and Human Rights experience, and their readiness to be included in the list were ascertained by these interviews.

Decision by the Cabinet

The Federal Minister of Justice and for Consumer Protection, Mrs Katarina Barley, proposed a list to the Federal Cabinet with the names of Mr Thilo Marauhn, Mrs Christiane Schmaltz and Mrs Anja Seibert-Fohr as candidates for the election as Judge to the European Court of Human Rights. The Cabinet approved the list on 30 January 2019 and this decision was published on the same day together with a press release [...]. The unsuccessful applicants were informed about the outcome of the procedure.

Appendix 1 – Thilo MARAUHN

(open)

CURRICULUM VITAE

I. Personal details

Name, forename: Marauhn, Thilo (Prof. Dr., M.Phil.)

Sex: male

Date and place of birth: Hellersen, 30 April 1963

Nationality: German

II. Education and academic and other qualifications

1983–1990 – Studies in Law and International Relations at Mannheim, Aberystwyth (United Kingdom), Bonn and Heidelberg

1986 – Diploma in International Law and Relations, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom

1990 – First State Exam in Law, Heidelberg, Germany

1994 – Dr. iur. utr. (Ph.D. equivalent), Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg, Germany

1995 – Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.), University of Wales, United Kingdom

2000 – Habilitation, Faculty of Law, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

III. Relevant professional activities

a. Description of judicial activities

b. Description of non-judicial legal activities

1990–2001 – Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, Germany

1995–2000 – Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000)

2001 – Professor of Law, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Since 2001 – Full Professor of Public Law and International Law, Faculty of Law, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

Since 2001 – Permanent Visiting Professor of Constitutional Theory, University of Lucerne, Switzerland

Since 2016 – Head of Research Group on International Law, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Germany

c. Description of non-legal professional activities

IV. Activities and experience in the field of human rights

International Organisations

Member of the International Humanitarian Fact-finding Commission (since 2012)

First Vice-President (since 2015), re-elected as Member in 2016, President (since 2017)

Expert statement, Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, Geneva (2014)

Consultancy

Member of the Advisory Committee on International Humanitarian Law of the German Red Cross (since 1995), Deputy Chairperson (since 2011), Chairperson (since 2014)

Member of the Advisory Board of the German Foreign Office on the United Nations (since 2008)

Consultant, Diakonia (Swedish Development Organization), on the relationship between humanitarian assistance and development co-operation (2015-2016)

Expert statement to the German Federal Parliament / Bundestag on the use of chemical weapons in Halabja (2013)

Consultant, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on higher education in developing countries (2012)

Academic

Classes on International Human Rights Law at Justus Liebig University (since 2001)

Classes on European Human Rights Law at the School of Law, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States (2005, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015)

Coordinator of a South-African German Master (LL.M.) of Comparative Child Law (2005-2013)

Coordinator of the Refugee Law Clinic at Justus Liebig University Giessen (2010-2013), Prize for Excellency in Teaching (Hertie Foundation and Land Hessen)

Co-Cordinator of the Comparative Legal Gender Studies-Network (CoLeGe§-Net): Die Emilie Kempyn-Spyris der Vergangenheit, der Gegenwart und der Zukunft (The Emilie Kempyn-Spyris of the Past, the Present and the Future) (2016-2019)

Publications on European and International Human Rights Law

V. Public activities

a. Public office

b. Elected posts

2006–2009 – Dean, Faculty of Law, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

2009–2013 – Member, Academic Senate, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

2017–2019 – Member, Academic Senate, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

c. Posts held in a political party or movement

VI. Other activities

a. Field: Academic

Since 2005 – Academic Director, International Summer University, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

Since 2006 – Liaison Professor, German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes)

Since 2009 – Academic Co-Director, US-German Summer Law Program, University of Wisconsin/Marquette University/Justus Liebig University Giessen

2016 – Visiting Fellow, Berlin, Research Group “The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?”

2018 – Visiting Fellow, Cambridge, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

b. Duration

(see above lit. a.)

c. Functions

(see above lit. a.)

VII. Publications and other works

Total number of books: 2 (author), 4 (co-author), 20 (editor or co-editor)

Total number of articles: 170

EMRK/GG. Konkordanzkommentar zum europäischen und deutschen Grundrechtsschutz (Commentary on the interrelationship between human rights protection in the German domestic legal system and European human rights law), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2006, 2nd ed. 2013, 2416 pp. (ed. with O. Doerr and R. Grote) (Author/co-author of Chapters on interference and limitations, the prohibition of slavery and forced labour, the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence)

Lehre des internationalen Rechts – zeitgemäß? (Teaching International Law – Up to Date?), Berichte der Deutschen Gesellschaft für internationales Recht, Vol. 48, Heidelberg 2017, 152 pp. (with S. Hobe)

Sicherung grund- und menschenrechtlicher Standards gegenüber neuen Gefährdungen durch private und ausländische Akteure (Securing Civil and Human Rights in Light of New Threats Arising From Private and Foreign Actors), Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung der Deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer 74 (2015), pp. 373-400.  

Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Assembly and Association, in: D. Ehlers (ed.) European Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, de Gruyter, Berlin 2007, pp. 97-129 (German editions published in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2014)

Sailing Close to the Wind: Human Rights Council Fact-Finding in Situations of Armed Conflict – The Case of Syria, California Western International Law Journal 43 (2012/2013), pp. 401-459

Hausunterricht zwischen Bildungsrecht und Elternrecht – “Homeschooling” im Lichte der EMRK (Homeschooling Between the Right to Education and Parents’ Rights – Homeschooling in Light of the ECHR), in: F. Reimer (ed.), Homeschooling. Bedrohung oder Bewährung des freiheitlichen Rechtsstaats?, Nomos, Baden-Baden 2012, pp. 99-108

Menschenrecht auf eine gesunde Umwelt – Trugbild oder Wirklichkeit? (A Human Right to a Healthy Environment – Phantasm or Reality?), in: T. Giegerich / A. Proelß (eds.), Bewahrung des ökologischen Gleichgewichts durch Völker- und Europarecht, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, pp. 11-47

Making Treaties Work: Human Rights, Environment and Arms Control, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, 427 pp. (with G. Ulfstein and A. Zimmermann)

Six Chapters (the right to respect for private and family life, the right to marry and to found a family, social security, protection of the family, children’s rights, the rights of the elderly and of persons with disabilities) in S. Heselhaus / C. Nowak (eds.), Handbuch der Europäischen Grundrechte, C.H. Beck, München 2006

Social Rights Beyond the Traditional Welfare State: International Instruments and the Concept of Individual Entitlements, in: E. Benvenisti / G. Nolte (eds.), The welfare state, globalization, and international law, Berlin, Heidelberg 2004, pp. 275-319

VIII. Languages

Language	Reading			Writing			Speaking
Language	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair
a. First language:
German	X			X			X
b. Official languages:
English	X			X			X
French	X			X				X
c. Other languages:
Italian		X				X			X

IX. In the event that you do not meet the level of language proficiency required for the post of judge in an official language [the second], please confirm your intention to follow intensive language classes of the language concerned prior to, and if need be also at the beginning of, your term of duty if elected a judge on the Court.

X. Other relevant information

XI. Please confirm that you will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected a judge on the Court.

I confirm that I will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected a judge on the Court.

Appendix 2 – Christiane SCHMALTZ

(open)

CURRICULUM VITAE

I. Personal details

Name, forename: Dr. Schmaltz, Christiane

Sex: female

Date and place of birth: 30 November 1970, Hildesheim, Germany

Nationality: German

II. Education and academic and other qualifications

03/2002 – Second State Exam in Law (qualifying exam)

07/2000 – Doctoral degree in law, Georg August University Göttingen (Germany)

05/1999 – Master of Laws degree (LL.M.), University of Virginia School of Law (United States)

08/1997 – First State Exam in Law, Georg August University Göttingen (Germany)

III. Relevant professional activities

a. Description of judicial activities

Since 01/2018 – Justice at the Federal Court of Justice, Karlsruhe; member of the 1st Civil Panel [I. Zivilsenat], dealing with Intellectual Property Law

Since 2011 – Ad hoc Judge for Germany at the European Court of Human Rights

10/2015–04/2017 – Judge at the Schleswig-Holstein Court of Appeal, Schleswig; member of the panel dealing with professional and disciplinary matters concerning notaries public

04/2015–12/2017 – Judge at the Schleswig-Holstein Court of Appeal, Schleswig; member of the panel for Banking Law

01/2013 – Appointment as Judge at the Court of Appeal

09/2011–03/2015 – Secondment to the Federal Constitutional Court, Karlsruhe: Chambers of Justice Professor Susanne Baer

01/2011–09/2011 – Judge at the District Court, Lübeck: civil matters

01/2009–12/2010 – Secondment to the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, Division 5.1

08/2009 – Appointment as Judge at the District Court

12/2004–08/2009 – Trainee Judge [Proberichterin] at the following courts in Schleswig-Holstein:

District Court, Lübeck: criminal matters

District Court, Oldenburg: civil matters and administrative offences

Regional Court, Lübeck: civil matters, in particular medical malpractice

District Court, Eutin: civil matters, administrative offences, estate matters

b. Description of non-judicial legal activities

01/2014 – Consultant for the assessment of the individual application system in Turkey within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Supporting the Individual Application to the Constitutional Court in Turkey (SIAC)”

09/2013 – Expert for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on “The European Convention on Human Rights: reinforcement and consolidation of the training of judges, prosecutors and lawyers”

07/2002 – 12/2004 – Associate Lawyer, Lovells LLP, Düsseldorf, Germany, specialising in Intellectual Property Law (mainly patent litigation)

12/1997 – 07/1998 – Research assistant, Georg August University Göttingen, Germany

c. Description of non-legal professional activities

07/2015 – 12/2017 – Deputy equal opportunities commissioner [stellvertretende Gleichstellungs-beauftragte] for the judiciary in Schleswig-Holstein

IV. Activities and experience in the field of human rights

09/2011 – 03/2015 – Secondment to the Federal Constitutional Court, Karlsruhe; Chambers of Justice Professor Susanne Baer: examining individual complaints, as well as referrals to the Constitutional Court; preparing drafts of decisions; handling correspondence with applicants

01/2009 – 12/2010 – Secondment to the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights, Division 5.1: examining and processing applications to the Court; preparing a total of 23 drafts of judgments (i.a. the pilot judgment Rumpf v. Germany) and decisions (i.a. the decision Bock v. Germany regarding the abuse of the right of application) according to the instructions of the judge rapporteur as well as 172 single judge notes regarding 360 applications; assisting in deliberations of the Chamber; handling correspondence with applicants

Selection of lectures on the European Court of Human Rights, and human rights law generally [in English, unless otherwise stated]:

2011, 2013, 2015 and 2018 – Lectures at the German Judicial Academy, Trier, Germany, on the European Court of Human Rights and its case-law [in German]:

Art. 5 ECHR – the right to liberty and security

Individual complaint proceedings on the national level and before the ECtHR

Organisation of the ECtHR

Admissibility criteria of an application to the ECtHR

Domestic effects of ECtHR Judgments – Application of the Convention by German Courts having regard to the case-law of the Federal Constitutional Court

2016: Council of Europe et al., Conference on “Regional Challenges in Implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights”, Vilnius, Lithuania. Lecture: “The Federal Constitutional Court’s role in implementing the Convention in Germany”

2016: Federal Mediation Association, Conference on “Protecting the Child”, Potsdam, Germany. Key Note: “The Hague Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights – allies or enemies?”

2016: Council of Europe, Conference on “Interpretation and Implementation of the ECHR by Constitutional Courts of the Western Balkans”, Priština, Kosovo. Lecture: “Individual complaints to constitutional courts – an effective human rights remedy?”

2015: OSCE, Conference on “Harmonization of the case law – Relationship between certainty and independence”, Belgrade, Serbia. Lecture: “Harmonisation of case law in Germany and the role of the ECtHR and the Constitutional Court in achieving it”

2014: Council of Europe, Conference on “Individual Application to Constitutional Court as a System to Protect Human Rights at National Level”, Antalya, Turkey. Lecture: “Relations between the Constitutional Court and other courts in Germany in the implementation of the individual petition system”

2014: Council of Europe, Project “Strengthening the application of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in Armenia”, three day seminar on “Civil and Administrative law and proceedings – enhancing skills in Protocol 1 Article 1 and Articles 6 and 8 ECHR”, Dilijan, Armenia. Lecture and case studies on Art. 6 ECHR

2014: Council of Europe, Conference on “Best Practices of Individual Complaint to the Constitutional Courts in Europe”, Strasbourg, France. Lecture: “Implementation through education – Constitutional Courts’ soft enforcement mechanisms”

2012: HELP Network Conference, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France. Key Note: “Providing guidance on the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights: the role and the training needs of Constitutional and Supreme Court judges”

2012: Institute of German and International Party Law and Party Research, Conference on “Party bans under German law and the European Convention on Human Rights” Düsseldorf, Germany. Lecture: “Party bans under the European Convention on Human Rights” [in German]

2010: German Lawyers’ Institute, Seminar on “The application to the ECtHR”, Strasbourg, France. Lecture: “Admissibility of an application to the ECHtR” [in German]

V. Public activities

VI. Other activities

Member of the New Judges Association (Neue Richtervereinigung)

Member of the German Association of Female Jurists (Deutscher Juristinnenbund)

Member of the German Section of the International Commission of Jurists

Member of the International Association of Women Judges

VII. Publications and other works

Author of one book and 17 articles; co-author of 9 articles. The publications concern Patent Law, Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, and include the following:

Misstrauensvorschuss: Zur Verfassungsschutz-Regelanfrage vor Einstellung in den Justizdienst [Advance mistrust: On the routine inquiry to the internal intelligence authorities before appointment to judicial service], VerfBlog, 2018/6/23, available at: www.verfassungsblog.de/misstrauensvorschuss-zur-verfassungsschutz-regelanfrage-vor-einstellung-in-den-justizdienst/

§§ 97a-97e BVerfGG Verzögerungsbeschwerde [Federal Constitutional Court Act – Formal complaint against judicial delay], in: Barczak (ed.), Mitarbeiterkommentar BVerfGG, 1st edition 2017

Rechtliches Gehör – Garant für den Zugang zum Recht? [The right to be heard – safeguarding access to justice?], KJ 2016, pp. 317-320

Die EMRK als Rechtsquelle des europäischen Verwaltungsrechts und Verwaltungsprozessrechts [The ECHR as a source of law for European administrative and administrative procedural law], in: Schenke/Suerbaum (eds.), Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit in der Europäischen Union, 2016, pp. 99-120

Art. 15 ECHR, in: Meyer-Ladewig/Nettesheim/von Raumer (eds.), Commentary on the ECHR, 4th edition 2016

Die überlange Dauer von Gerichtsverfahren im Spiegel der Rechtsprechung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts und des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte [The excessive length of court proceedings as mirrored by the case-law of the Federal Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights], in: Becker/Lange (eds.), Linien der Rechtsprechung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts, Vol. 3, 2014, pp. 583-613

Die deutsche Rechtsprechung und der EGMR [The German legal practice and the ECtHR], in Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (ed.), Vom Recht auf Menschenwürde, 2013, pp. 97-108 (co-author: Renate Jaeger)

Die Große Kammer des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte – eine Annäherung an Abgabe- und Verweisungspraxis [The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR – an approach to the practice of relinquishment and referral], EuGRZ 2012, pp. 606-616

Entscheidung von Arzthaftpflichtverfahren "innerhalb angemessener Frist“ – Beschleunigungsmöglichkeiten im Lichte der Rechtsprechung des EGMR [Deciding medical malpractice cases “within a reasonable time” – possibilities for accelerating proceedings in the light of the case-law of the ECtHR] (co-author: Hartmut Schneider), NJW 2011, pp. 3270-3274

University Inventions: Classification and Remuneration in Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK, the US and Japan, IIC 2005, pp. 912-927 (co-author: Andreas von Falck)

VIII. Languages

Language	Reading			Writing			Speaking
Language	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair
a. First language:
German (mother tongue)
b. Official languages:
English	X			X			X
French		X				X			X

IX. In the event that you do not meet the level of language proficiency required for the post of judge in an official language [the second], please confirm your intention to follow intensive language classes of the language concerned prior to, and if need be also at the beginning of, your term of duty if elected a judge on the Court.

I confirm that, if elected, I will bring my French language skills up to the required level prior to the beginning of my term of office.

X. Other relevant information

XI. Please confirm that you will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected a judge on the Court.

I will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected.

Appendix 3 – Anja SEIBERT-FOHR

(open)

CURRICULUM VITAE

I. Personal details

Name, forename: Seibert-Fohr, Anja

Sex: female

Date and place of birth: 3 April1969, Giessen, Germany

Nationality: German

II. Education and academic and other qualifications

Law Studies (1988-93), First and Second State Examination in Law, 1993 and 1996 (qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office)

German Academy of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, 1994-95

International Rule of Law Fellowship, GWU 1997-98

Master of Laws (International and Comparative Law), George Washington University, 1999

Doctor of Juridical Science, George Washington University, 2004 (Amnesties for Serious Human Rights Violations) supervisor: Professor Thomas Buergenthal (Judge, International Court of Justice)

Professor of Public Law, International and Comparative Law, Habilitation, Venia legendi from the University of Heidelberg, 2012

III. Relevant professional activities

a. Description of judicial activities

The Conference of States Parties elected me in 2012 at the seat of the United Nations in New York to serve as a member of the Human Rights Committee. The Committee is the principal legal institution entrusted with overseeing the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted in 1966, this Covenant is the universal equivalent to the European Convention of Human Rights).

In the course of my mandate at the Human Rights Committee, I participated in the review of more than 500 individual complaints asserting violations of the rights protected under the Covenant. As a rapporteur for a number of significant cases, I helped to shape the Committee’s jurisprudence in various areas.

The Committee’s individual complaint procedure resembles the procedure of the European Court of Human Rights. My training as a judicial clerk in the 1990s, where I qualified for judicial office, was a great benefit as I performed this quasi-judicial function.

Member of the UN-Human Rights Committee, 2013-2018

Vice-Chair of the UN-Human Rights Committee, 2015-2017

Clerk, Highest State Court, Frankfurt on the Main, 1993-96

b. Description of non-judicial legal activities

As a professor for public law, international law, and human rights law, I combine a comprehensive knowledge of German law with a profound command of comparative and international law, including the European and international human rights regimes. I regularly teach European and international human rights law, including Public International Law, International Dispute Settlement, as well as German Constitutional and Public Law. The domestic public law subjects include coverage of Fundamental and Civil Rights and administrative law.

Chair in Public Law, International Law and Human Rights Law, University of Heidelberg, Faculty of Law, since 2016

Director of the Institute for Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law

Presidium of the United Nations Association of Germany, since 2017

Director of the Institute for Public Law and European Law, University of Goettingen, 2014-2016

Chair in International Law and Human Rights Law, University of Goettingen, 2013-2016

Head of the Minerva Research Section, Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, 2008-2013

Grant for outstanding researchers by the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Sciences, 2008

Visiting professor, University of Cambridge, 2010

International Law Association- Committee on the International Criminal Court, until 2010

Visiting scholar, Georgetown University Law Center, 2009

Legal adviser to the Human Rights Section of the "Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law" (Oxford University Press), 2004-2006

MPIL-Coordinator of the International Max Planck Research School on Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment, 2007-2009

Co-editor of the Max Planck Commentaries on WTO Law, 2004-2006

Senior Research Fellow, Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg, 2000-2008

Advisory board of the Journal “Security and Peace", until present

Advisory board of the Goettingen Journal of International Law, until present

Executive board, Expert Roundtable on International Criminal Law, 2005-2013

Adjunct Professor, MCL Program of Mannheim and Adelaide University, 2003-2008

Lecturer in International and Comparative Law, Heidelberg University, 2002-2012

Research Associate, Project on economic and social rights, George Washington University, 1998

Judge at the International Rounds of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 1998

c. Description of non-legal professional activities

Academic Founding Committee, International Nuremberg Principles Academy, 2010-2011

In 2010, the German government commissioned me and three academic colleagues to conceptualize and, design plans for the International Nuremberg Principles Academy. This interdisciplinary institution is dedicated to the promotion of international criminal justice and human rights. The Academy develops programming and training that supports the fight against impunity for international crimes.

IV. Activities and experience in the field of human rights

I have more than 20 years’ experience in human rights and public law, acquired in three different capacities: as member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, as legal practitioner, and as a legal academic.

a. United Nations Human Rights Committee:

Member of the UN- Human Rights Committee, 2013-2018

Vice-Chair of the UN-Human Rights Committee, 2015-2017

Co-Rapporteur on Follow-up to Concluding Observations, Human Rights Committee, 2013-2014

During my mandate, I participated in the review of the human rights situation in over 100 States parties, many of which are members of the Council of Europe. In this function, I have gained deep insights into the great variety of domestic legal orders. As a mandated Co-Rapporteur on Follow-up, I reviewed the implementation of our Concluding Observations and prepared the Committee’s Follow-up Report.

As an elected Vice-Chair, I presided over several proceedings of the Committee and I participated in steering and decision-making for the Committee. The latter work involved administrative responsibilities, including administrative supervision and budget decision. I also represented the Committee on various occasions, including at the UN level. Finally, I initiated and organised a joint meeting of our Committee with the European Court of Human Rights in July, 2016. At that meeting, Committee Members and Judges of the European Court of Human Rights discussed matters relevant for both human rights jurisdictions.

b. Legal practioner/counsel

High Priority Comparative Report on Judicial Administration for the Office of the Chief Justice of South Africa, 2011

Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence (OSCE), 2010

Head of the OSCE-MPIL Project on the Independence of the Judiciary, 2008-2010 (cited in Oleksandr Volkov v. Ukraine, no. 21722/11, § 81, ECHR 2013)

Legal adviser, German delegation to OSCE human dimension conferences, 2003-2005

Founder of the MPIL Human Rights Roundtable, 2003-2006

Comparative Study on corporate human rights litigation, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2004

For many years, I have been an active legal practitioner, especially through my engagement in several rule of law initiatives. I contributed to a high priority report for the Chief Justice of South Africa that addressed administrative measures to be taken to protect judicial independence.

In co-operation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, I directed a project on the independence of the judiciary that reviewed the judicial systems of OSCE participating states. That OSCE project allowed me to acquaint myself with the broad scope of different legal orders of a great variety of European states, including those of Central and Eastern Europe. The European Court of Human Rights referred to my study in its judgement Volkov v. Ukraine. The OSCE project also led to the Kyiv Recommendations on Judicial Independence in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. These international standards have become the basis for several domestic rule of law reforms in the region.

c. Legal academic

Convener of the ECHR-Conference „Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights – Effects and Implementation“ in co-operation with Section President Mark Villiger, 2013

Convener of the Regional Conference “Judicial Independence in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia: Challenges, Reforms and Way Forward”, in co-operation with the OSCE, Ukraine 23-25 June 2010

In my efforts to render academic work practically relevant for the protection of human rights I have organised, in co-operation with the OSCE and the ECHR respectively, two major international conferences. These programs brought together scholars, judges and practitioners for joint conversations and debate. Several judges of the European Court of Human Rights, including former President Dean Spielmann, participated. They were joined by renowned legal scholars, Supreme Court judges, and practitioners from various Council of Europe member States. I partnered with then-Section President Mark Villiger from the European Court of Human Rights in convening and coordinating that program. In co-operation with the OSCE, I hosted an expert conference in the Ukraine, which discussed challenges and strategies to reinforce judicial independence in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.

In past years, I have been invited regularly for presentations at conferences hosted by the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the Council of Europe:

Key note on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the creation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, “Strengthening co-operation between the three Regional Human Rights Courts” 2018

Joint Public Conference of the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, presentation on “Evidence and the burden of proof in case of gross and systematic human rights violations”, 2018

Seminar organised for the launching of the work of the Council of Europe, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, Seminar organised for the launching of the work of the Drafting Group on the place of the European Convention on Human Rights in the European and international legal order (DH-SYSC-II), presentation on “The European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee”, 2017

ESIL-ECHR Conference “European Convention on Human Rights and the Crimes of the Past”, presentation “Coping with the Past, Looking to the Future”, 2016

ECHR Conference 'The European Convention on Human Right and General International Law”, presentation on “Subsequent agreements and practice from an ILC perspective”, 2015

V. Public activities

a. Public office

Director of the Institute for Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory and Philosophy of Law

Chair in Public Law, International Law and Human Rights Law, University of Heidelberg

Director of the Institute for Public Law and European Law, University of Goettingen, 2014-2016

Chair in International Law and Human Rights Law, University of Goettingen, 2013-2016

b. Elected posts

Vice-Chair of the UN-Human Rights Committee, 2015-2017

Member of the UN- Human Rights Committee, 2013-2018

c. Posts held in a political party or movement

VI. Other activities

Caritas Local Trust Fund for Women in Need, Community service, 1992-1997

VII. Publications and other works

I have published a large number of works in the field of Human Rights Law, International and Comparative Law (https://www.jura.uni-heidelberg.de/seibert-fohr/Publlications_en.html). Here is a selection of the ten most relevant books and articles related to human rights:

Prosecuting Serious Human Rights Violations, 310 p. (Oxford University Press 2009)

The Rise of Equality in International Law and its Pitfalls: Learning from Comparative Constitutional Law, Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Vol. 35, pp. 1-39 (2010)

European Standards for the Rule of Law and Independent Courts, in Journal für Rechtspolitik, Vol. 20, pp. 161-169 (2012).

Аня Зайберт-Фор, Международно-правовая ответственность государств за действия частных лиц: необходимость переориентации?, in: Digest für öffentliches Recht, Issue 2 (2013), pp. 333 – 364 [in English: State responsibility for acts by private parties: Need for reform?]

Judicial Independence in Transition, 1378 pp. (Springer 2012)

Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights – Effects and Implementation, A. Seibert-Fohr/ Mark E. Villiger (eds.), 321 pp. (Nomos/Ashgate 2014)

The Effect of Subsequent Practice on the European Convention on Human Rights: Considerations from a General International Law Perspective, in I. Motoc/A. van Aaken (eds.), The European Court of Human Rights and General International Law, pp. 61-82 (Oxford University Press, 2018)

The Human Rights Committee- Legacy and Promise, in Gerd Oberleitner (ed.), International Human Rights Institutions, Tribunals, and Courts, Springer (2018)

Mélanges en l’honneur de Christine Chanet, E. Decaux/I. Motoc/P. Gillibert, The European Court of Human Rights and the Human Rights Committee: Cross-fertilization in human rights jurisprudence (Pedone 2019)

La protection de la dignité de la personne en droit international, in: Mélanges en l’honneur de Herbert Kronke (Gieseking Spring 2019)

VIII. Languages

Language	Reading			Writing			Speaking
Language	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair	very good	good	fair
a. First language:
German	X			X			X
b. Official languages:
English	X			X			X
French	X				X			X
c. Other languages:
Italian			X			X			X
Spanish			X

Apart from my work in English and French on the UN Human Rights Committee, I occasionally acted as rapporteur for Spanish-speaking countries (passive knowledge).

IX. In the event that you do not meet the level of language proficiency required for the post of judge in an official language [the second], please confirm your intention to follow intensive language classes of the language concerned prior to, and if need be also at the beginning of, your term of duty if elected a judge on the Court.

Though, by virtue of my function in the Human Rights Committee and my foreign legal education, I meet the level of language proficiency in the official languages of the Council of Europe I am eager to continue immersing myself in both languages.

X. Other relevant information

https://www.jura.uni-heidelberg.de/seibert-fohr/Person_en.html

XI. Please confirm that you will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected a judge on the Court.

I will take up permanent residence in Strasbourg if elected a judge on the Court.