Since 2017: Judge at the Federal Court of Justice, Germany’s supreme court for criminal and civil matters on appeal, Criminal Division, Karlsruhe

• Proceedings dealing with crimes such as human trafficking, forced prostitution, murder, manslaughter, offences against property, sexual crimes, in particular against women and children;
• initially in the 1st Criminal Division with additional responsibility for appeals against decisions on tax offences; furthermore, until the end of 2019, member of the Cartel Panel;
• currently assigned to the 3rd Criminal Division with additional responsibility for appeals in proceedings undertaken under state protection criminal law and proceedings pursuant to the German Code of Crimes against International Law

2000-2017: Presiding Judge of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia

• Show larger version of image

  Close

  State Protection Division of Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (2011-2017), Presiding Judge from 2015;
• proceedings concerning membership or support of foreign terrorist organisations (various Islamist groups such as IS, ISIS, al-Qaida, Ahrar al-Sham, Junud al-Sham, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan [IMU], as well as PKK [Turkey] and LTTE [Sri Lanka]);
• Judge at Cologne Higher Regional Court and Head of department in its administration section (2009-2011) including work as press spokesperson and responsibility for international contacts together with reciprocal visits with the partner courts Arnhem Leeuwarden/Netherlands, Liège/Belgium, Kraków/Poland and Prague/Czech Republic

1995-2000: Research assistant at Humboldt University Berlin, Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedural Law and Legal Philosophy

• Work on the issue of transitional justice; dissertation “On the boundaries of the definition of the perversion of justice – a study of the cases against GDR lawyers” in the research project “Criminal justice and the GDR past” conducted by Prof. Gerhard Werle and Prof. Klaus Marxen; working groups for students on Criminal Law

List of Publications

• Show larger version of image

  Close

  Vorsatz und „Unrechtsbewusstsein“ im Strafrecht der DDR als Problem aktueller Rechtsanwendung [Intent and “awareness of wrongdoing” in GDR criminal law as a problem of current legal application], DtZ 1997, 308
• Contributor to Klaus Marxen / Gerhard Werle, Die strafrechtliche Aufarbeitung von DDR-Unrecht, Eine Bilanz [The criminal law investigation of GDR injustice, taking stock] (1999) and to Klaus Marxen / Gerhard Werle (ed.), Strafjustiz und DDR-Unrecht, Dokumentation [Penal justice and GDR injustice, documentation], volume 5 Rechtsbeugung [perversion of justice], (2 volumes, 2007)
• An den Grenzen des Rechtsbeugungstatbestandes, Eine Studie zu den Strafverfahren gegen DDR-Juristen [On the boundaries of the definition of the perversion of justice, a study of the cases against GDR lawyers], 2000
• Justizministerium und richterliche Unabhängigkeit, Juristische Zeitgeschichte Nordrhein-Westfalen [Ministry of Justice and judicial independence, contemporary judicial history in North Rhine-Westphalia] volume 18 (2010), 112 (with Andreas Heusch)
• Commentary for BeckOK, foreigners law, sections 95 – 98 of the Residence Act and sections 84 – 86 of the Asylum Act (in both cases, provisions on criminal offences and fines)
• Aktuelle Fragen der aussagepsychologischen Begutachtung von Opferzeugen in Strafverfahren [Current issues concerning the assessment of victim witnesses in criminal proceedings from the perspective of the psychology of testimonials], NStZ [Criminal Law Journal] 2020, 387
• Überlegungen zu einer Neustrukturierung des gerichtlichen Kartellbußgeldverfahrens [Reflections on restructuring the court-based cartel fine procedure], FS Meier-Beck, GRUR 2021, 230
• Rechtliche Anforderungen an Beweiserhebung und Beweiswürdigung in Aussage-gegen-Aussage-Konstellationen [Legal requirements for evidence gathering and consideration in constellations involving one person’s word against another], in: Deckers/Köhnken, Die Erhebung und Bewertung von Zeugenaussagen im Strafprozess [evidence gathering and consideration of witness testimonals in criminal trials], 5. edition, 2022, 11
• Publication to follow: new edition of Beweisrecht der StPO [law of evidence of the Code of Criminal Procedure], previously edited solely by Ulrich Eisenberg (editors: Ulrich Eisenberg, Ute Hohoff, Jens Puschke)

Lectures

• In the context of the NStZ (Criminal Law Journal) annual conferences as well as the specialist lawyer courses on criminal law run by the German Academy of Lawyers
• Lead-in presentation at the parliamentary evening on quality assurance of expert opinions in court cases, organised by the Centre of Excellence for expert opinions and the legal psychology section of the German Association of Psychologists on 5 March 2020 in Berlin
• Lecture on the legal requirements for evidence gathering and consideration in constellations involving one person’s word against another at the meeting of the working group on psychology in criminal proceedings on 6 November 2021 in Düsseldorf (intended for publication in the conference documentation)
• Lecture on Sentencing and EU Criminal Law in the context of the international conference on Balance and Perspective of EU Criminal Law and its Application in the Member States on 26 September 2022 in Prague (intended for publication in the conference documentation)
• Lecture on the legal basis for the assessment of victim witnesses in criminal proceedings from the perspective of the psychology of testimonials at the interdisciplinary symposium on Therapy and credibility organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice on 6 October 2022 in Berlin
• Speech on “The International Criminal Court – Between Internationality and Sovereignty” on 17 October 2023 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Berlin Potsdam Research Group International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?)
• Panel discussion on “Adjudication and Protection of Victims” on 16 November 2023 in Berlin (legal psychology section of the German Association of Psychologists)
• Lecturing assignment from summer semester 2024 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Faculty of Law, German and international criminal law

Other activities

• Accompanying and supervising the creation and evaluation of the Online Peer-Review-Project of legal psychologists concerning their (written) expert opinions on credibility of victim witnesses in criminal trials by the Centre of Excellence for expert opinions – Law, Psychology, Medicine
• Elected member of the Judicial Council (Richterrat, representing the interests of the judges) of the Federal Court of Justice
• Gender equality representative of the Faculty of Law, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1996-1998)