Günter Hirsch (born 30 January 1943) is a German legal scholar who served as the seventh
President of the Federal Court of Justice of Germany from 2000 to 2008.
Biography
Günter Erhard Hirsch was born in
Neuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.
Divisions
The municipality has 16 divisions:
* Altmannstetten
* Bergen, Neu ...
, the second child of Erhard and Anni Hirsch. After primary school, he attended
gymnasium in Neuburg, graduating with his
abitur in 1964.
[Biographical details of Prof. Dr. Günter Hirsch](_blank)
Bundesgerichtshof, official website. Retrieved April 7, 2011 From 1964 to 1969, he studied
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
at the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
. He took his first state exam in 1969, followed by the second one in 1973. During this period, he also worked as a research assistant for the
chair of
criminal law at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He also completed his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
there.
In 1973, Hirsch started working in the
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n judicial service,
first as a public prosecutor from 1975 to 1976, then from 1976 until 1980 as a judge at an
Amtsgericht
An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the so-called 'ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most cri ...
(local district court). After attending a 15-month course on administrative management at the state
chancellery of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, he became a
presiding judge
A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...
at a ''
Landgericht'' (regional court), serving from 1982 to 1984. Later, he worked at the Bavarian state ministry of justice, where he became an assistant director and the head of the division for legislative planning, constitutional law and European law between 1989 and 1992.
He then became the president of diverse courts. From 1 September 1992 to 31 December 1992 he was president of the Bezirksgericht (district court) of
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
; from 1993 until 6 October 1994 he was president of the
Higher Regional Court of Dresden. From 6 June 1993 to 31 March 1995 he was also president of the
Constitutional Court of Saxony
The Constitutional Court of Saxony (german: Verfassungsgerichtshof des Freistaates Sachsen; abbreviated: ') is the constitutional court of Saxony. The court has its seat in Leipzig and is opposite of the Federal Administrative Court building.
...
. From 1994 to 2000, he was an appointed judge at the
European Court of Justice, as well.
From 2000 to January 2008, he was president of the
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
The Federal Court of Justice (german: Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction (''ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit'') in Germany, founded in 1950. It has its seat in Karlsruhe with two panels being situat ...
. He is the vice president of the association of the presidents of the highest courts of justice of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
as well as president of the academy for management and commerce Baden in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
. He is a member of the disciplinary commission of the
FIFA, a member of academy ethics in medicine, a member of the society for comparative law and a member of the society for public international law. From 1984 to 1994, he was also the secretary-general and vice president of the German society for medical law.
Hirsch is an
honorary professor for European and medical law at the
Saarland University
Saarland University (german: Universität des Saarlandes, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in s ...
. He has to his credit numerous publications in the fields of criminal law, medical law, public law and European law. Hirsch is married to Marta Hirsch-Ziembiñska, a jurist and diplomat.
See also
*
List of members of the European Court of Justice
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Gunter
1943 births
Living people
People from Neuburg an der Donau
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni
German legal scholars
20th-century German judges
European Court of Justice judges
German judges of international courts and tribunals
Judges of the Federal Court of Justice
Jurists from Bavaria
21st-century German judges