Hans-Jürgen Papier (; born 6 July 1943 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) is a German scholar of constitutional law who served as president of the

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme court, supreme constitutional court for the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law ...

from 2002 to 2010.

Early life and education

Three years after graduating from law school in 1967 with the first law state examination, Papier completed his Ph.D. studies at the

Freie Universität Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. In 1971 he received the second law state examination. In 1973 he received his ''

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

'' on the basis of a second dissertation on questions concerning German constitutional law.

Career

From 1974 onward Papier received tenure at the

Universität Bielefeld Bielefeld University () is a public university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization and teaching than the e ...

and taught constitutional law. In 1992 he moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

to teach German and Bavarian constitutional and administrative law as well as Public Social law at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. In 1998 Papier, a member of the conservative CSU party, became Vice President and Chair of the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. When President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Jutta Limbach retired from her position in 2002, Papier succeeded her. Papier has often made public comments on questions of constitutional law, but has generally avoided commenting on other political questions. He made an exception to this rule after the elections of 2005 when he implored the parties to work hard not to lose the trust of the German electorate.

Later career

From 2014 to 2016, Papier was part of an advisory board on internal reforms at Europe's largest automobile association

ADAC The ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest automobile association. The ADAC is the largest wikt:Verein, ''verein'' (club) in Germany, with around 21 million members. Its headquarters are located i ...

. From 2014 to 2023, he served as ombudsperson at German private

credit bureau A credit bureau is a data collection agency that gathers account information from various creditors and provides that information to a consumer reporting agency in the United States, a credit reference agency in the United Kingdom, a credit report ...

Schufa Schufa Holding AG (; English: ''General Credit Protection Agency''), proper spelling SCHUFA, is a German private credit bureau supported by creditors. It has its headquarters in Wiesbaden. Schufa's purpose is to protect its clients from credit r ...

. From 2017, Papier headed the so-called ''Limbach Commission'' (Advisory Commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, especially Jewish property), a panel convened by the German government to give recommendations on restitution claims regarding art works stolen or purchased under duress by the Nazis.Catherine Hickley (25 January 2021)
Rare Violin Tests Germany’s Commitment to Atone for Its Nazi Past
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

Selected works

* ''Verfassung und Verfassungswandel'', in: Robertson-von Trotha, Caroline Y. (ed.): 60 Jahre Grundgesetz. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven (= Kulturwissenschaft interdisziplinär/Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture and Society, Vol. 4), Baden-Baden 2009

External links

* *

References

1943 births German scholars of constitutional law Living people Huguenots Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-law-bio-stub