Professor Michael Bohlander has published a new empirical study tracking the careers of individual judges from their initial entry posts until their appointment to the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) in detail.
Durham law professor publishes new empirical study tracking the careers of individual judges to the Bundesgerichtshof
The structural and political tropes around judicial recruitment and promotion in Germany have so far received the lion’s share of the attention, yet, as every judge in every country’s judiciary knows, there are formal and informal contacts, relationships, connections, channels or pathways in practice that may lead to appointment to higher judicial office, or in those systems with a career judiciary like Germany, to a promotion. Selection for the next step of the career progression, however, often appears as a “black box” and little to no hard data on the criteria applied by the selectors exist, leaving aside the rumours and anecdotal stories circulating among the peers of any “chosen” colleague. Research tracking the career trajectories of individual judges in Germany from their entry into the judiciary to their appointment at the Federal Court of Justice in detail has so far been absent. This paper addresses that gap in the research, highlighting in particular the impact of the selection procedures against the gender background. It presents original analytical research based on the regular appointment press releases issued by the Federal Court of Justice from 2000 – 2020.
The study has been published in The Journal of Comparative Law (2024), pp. 459 - 528.
Read the full PDF here - JCL2024-2Bohlander_GoingFederal (PDF,1.64 MB)