Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem
Encyclopedia
Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem is a German
legal scholar and a former judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
.
) at the Walddörfer-Gymnasium in Hamburg
, he studied law while minoring in economics at the Universities of Hamburg
, Freiburg i.Br.
, Munich, and Berkeley
. He was awarded an LL.M. at Berkeley. In 1964 he passed the first state examination and in 1968 obtained a doctorate in law. After passing the second state examination in 1970, he spent four years working as a lawyer. In 1974 he obtained his postdoctoral qualification (Habilitation)
, which led to an appointment as professor of public law and public administration at the University of Hamburg
. From 1977 to 1979, he was the spokesperson for Law Department II at the University of Hamburg
, which offered a new single-tier law education as an alternative to the traditional two-tier education in Law Department I. He was offered but declined faculty appointments at the Universities of Hannover, Frankfurt a.M., and Berlin
.
From 1979 to 1995, Hoffmann-Riem was director of the Hans Bredow Institute for media research, which is affiliated with the University of Hamburg, and from July 1998 until December 1999, he chaired its newly created directorate. Following his appointment as judge of the Federal Constitutional Court
, he became an honorary member of the directorate. From 1981 to 1983, he served as chair of the German Association for the Sociology of Law and from 1989 to 1992 as chair of the German Communication Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, DGPuK). Since 1988 he has been director of the Research Centre for Environmental Law and since 1996 director of the Centre for Research in Law and Innovation, CERI, both at the University of Hamburg. From 1995 to 1997, he was Minister of Justice of the State of Hamburg
. During this period, he also chaired the Committee on Legal Affairs of the German Bundesrat. From 1999 to 2008, he served as judge in the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court
. In 2007 he was appointed by the federal government as the German representative on the European Commission for Democracy through Law
, also known as the Venice Commission
. In 2009/10 Hoffmann-Riem was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
(Wissenschaftskolleg) in Berlin.
This fundamental understanding has been given expression by Hoffmann-Riem throughout all phases of his extensive career and research. An example of this is his role in reforming legal education in Germany. Traditionally having two parts, the manner of instruction he helped to create forged a stronger bond between the once-separate theoretical and practical aspects. In numerous advisory roles with governments, parliaments, and organizations, as well as his participation in a variety of commissions, he has strived to include the voice of practitioners. In addition, his extensive research and teaching engagements abroad (e.g., at Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Melbourne) have enabled him to incorporate views from other legal systems as well. In analyzing the problems and possibilities associated with legal regulation, he has focused on the media. Thanks to ground-breaking technological breakthroughs (cable and satellite television, digitalization, the Internet) and accompanying shifts in the market, this area has offered him a rich source of material for studying the interplay between responses at the law-making level and social, technological, economic, and political developments. While this transformation was happening, he was head of the Hans Bredow Institute for Radio and Television, whose main focus was on sociological issues.
Hoffmann-Riem has seen environmental law as another example of a field warranting closer examination of the problems associated with traditional governmental regulation – variously characterized by writers as a "crisis" – and of the need for new regulatory approaches. On these topics, his primary interest has been the interplay between governmental and private entities (so-called "cooperative administrative law"), specifically the question of just what type of law is required when the state largely turns over its public-interest responsibilities to the private sector while remaining tasked with their fulfillment. In an attempt to describe this dynamic, he coined the term "regulated self-regulation."
In the early 1990s, Hoffmann-Riem initiated a systematic discussion among academics and practitioners on the need and possible options for the reform of administrative law. In doing so, he gained the support of the renowned Heidelberg scholar Eberhard Schmidt-Aßmann. This discussion resulted in a ten-volume series entitled "The Reform of Administrative Law" ("Schriften zur Reform des Verwaltungsrechts"), published by Nomos Verlag. Another project ensuing from this discussion on reform was a systematic handbook with Hoffmann-Riem as editor – again with Schmidt-Aßmann and also Andreas Voßkuhle – entitled "Fundamentals of Administrative Law" ("Grundlagen des Verwaltungsrechts"), which was published in three volumes between 2006 and 2009 by Beck Verlag. Fifty authors contributed to this project. A new edition is already under way.
In the 1990s, taking note of on-going public criticism that the ability of German society to innovate was hamstrung on account of restrictions imposed by law, Hoffmann-Riem called for the establishment of a new legal discipline, which came to be called research in law and innovation (see, e.g., "Research in Law and Innovation" ["Schriften zur rechtswissenschaftlichen Innovationsforschung"], published by Nomos Verlag). In 1995 he founded the Centre for Research in Law and Innovation (CERI) at the University of Hamburg and undertook several research projects on the importance of law in society-based technological and social innovation.
During his tenure as Senator of Justice in the Hamburg Senate, Hoffmann-Riem conceived and initiated an overhaul of Hamburg's judicial administration termed "Justice 2000", and it became a model for other German states.
) nominated the politically unaffiliated scholar Hoffman-Riem as judge of the Federal Constitutional Court
, and he was subsequently elected by the Bundesrat
. His scope of responsibility encompassed, inter alia, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly
, general protection of privacy, protection of personal information, and competition law. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, he authored a series of decisions that gave rise to spirited public debate, including those on freedom of assembly and the relationship between freedom and security (for example, decisions on sweeping wiretapping powers ["Großen Lauschangriff"], wiretapping using foreign trade law or general police regulations, profiling, online searches, automated recording of car license plates, and data retention.) While recognizing the need for the state to ensure public safety, the Constitutional Court held that guarantees afforded by the rule of law may not be ignored and governmental power must be limited, and even in the face of perceived threats, it is paramount that the principles of proportionality and certainty in the application of law be respected and procedural safeguards be maintained. In these decisions (for example, in the ruling dealing with online searches), the Constitutional Court dealt extensively with developments in current technology that have long been the subject of Hoffmann-Riem's research.
His most important publications have recently been republished in the following anthologies:
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
legal scholar and a former judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
.
Career
Wolfgang Hoffmann-Riem was born into a family of teachers. He had four siblings, one of whom died at a very young age. After passing the general qualification for university entrance (AbiturAbitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
) at the Walddörfer-Gymnasium in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, he studied law while minoring in economics at the Universities of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
, Freiburg i.Br.
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
, Munich, and Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He was awarded an LL.M. at Berkeley. In 1964 he passed the first state examination and in 1968 obtained a doctorate in law. After passing the second state examination in 1970, he spent four years working as a lawyer. In 1974 he obtained his postdoctoral qualification (Habilitation)
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
, which led to an appointment as professor of public law and public administration at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. From 1977 to 1979, he was the spokesperson for Law Department II at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
, which offered a new single-tier law education as an alternative to the traditional two-tier education in Law Department I. He was offered but declined faculty appointments at the Universities of Hannover, Frankfurt a.M., and Berlin
Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on the...
.
From 1979 to 1995, Hoffmann-Riem was director of the Hans Bredow Institute for media research, which is affiliated with the University of Hamburg, and from July 1998 until December 1999, he chaired its newly created directorate. Following his appointment as judge of the Federal Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
, he became an honorary member of the directorate. From 1981 to 1983, he served as chair of the German Association for the Sociology of Law and from 1989 to 1992 as chair of the German Communication Association (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft, DGPuK). Since 1988 he has been director of the Research Centre for Environmental Law and since 1996 director of the Centre for Research in Law and Innovation, CERI, both at the University of Hamburg. From 1995 to 1997, he was Minister of Justice of the State of Hamburg
Government of Hamburg
The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Due to the characteristic that Hamburg is a city-state and a municipality in Germany, the governance deals several details of state politics and community politics. It takes place in two ranks; a city-wide and...
. During this period, he also chaired the Committee on Legal Affairs of the German Bundesrat. From 1999 to 2008, he served as judge in the First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
. In 2007 he was appointed by the federal government as the German representative on the European Commission for Democracy through Law
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin wall, at a time of urgent need for constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe...
, also known as the Venice Commission
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin wall, at a time of urgent need for constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe...
. In 2009/10 Hoffmann-Riem was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
(Wissenschaftskolleg) in Berlin.
Main Areas of Research
Hoffmann-Riem has sought to change the understanding of law as a discipline dealing solely with the interpretation of norms to one in which actions and decisions focus on resolution of problems. Emphasizing the problem-solving capacity of the legal system, he has maintained that law can help overcome social problems and achieve resolution of specific conflicts if suitable frameworks are deployed in a legal system that is efficient and results-oriented. In his view, this concept derives from the interaction between norms and social reality – that is, the operative area of norms (the so-called "Realbereich") – and from the effects of the way in which law is applied, with such effects being measured across disciplines by incorporating sociology, economics, and natural sciences.This fundamental understanding has been given expression by Hoffmann-Riem throughout all phases of his extensive career and research. An example of this is his role in reforming legal education in Germany. Traditionally having two parts, the manner of instruction he helped to create forged a stronger bond between the once-separate theoretical and practical aspects. In numerous advisory roles with governments, parliaments, and organizations, as well as his participation in a variety of commissions, he has strived to include the voice of practitioners. In addition, his extensive research and teaching engagements abroad (e.g., at Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and Melbourne) have enabled him to incorporate views from other legal systems as well. In analyzing the problems and possibilities associated with legal regulation, he has focused on the media. Thanks to ground-breaking technological breakthroughs (cable and satellite television, digitalization, the Internet) and accompanying shifts in the market, this area has offered him a rich source of material for studying the interplay between responses at the law-making level and social, technological, economic, and political developments. While this transformation was happening, he was head of the Hans Bredow Institute for Radio and Television, whose main focus was on sociological issues.
Hoffmann-Riem has seen environmental law as another example of a field warranting closer examination of the problems associated with traditional governmental regulation – variously characterized by writers as a "crisis" – and of the need for new regulatory approaches. On these topics, his primary interest has been the interplay between governmental and private entities (so-called "cooperative administrative law"), specifically the question of just what type of law is required when the state largely turns over its public-interest responsibilities to the private sector while remaining tasked with their fulfillment. In an attempt to describe this dynamic, he coined the term "regulated self-regulation."
In the early 1990s, Hoffmann-Riem initiated a systematic discussion among academics and practitioners on the need and possible options for the reform of administrative law. In doing so, he gained the support of the renowned Heidelberg scholar Eberhard Schmidt-Aßmann. This discussion resulted in a ten-volume series entitled "The Reform of Administrative Law" ("Schriften zur Reform des Verwaltungsrechts"), published by Nomos Verlag. Another project ensuing from this discussion on reform was a systematic handbook with Hoffmann-Riem as editor – again with Schmidt-Aßmann and also Andreas Voßkuhle – entitled "Fundamentals of Administrative Law" ("Grundlagen des Verwaltungsrechts"), which was published in three volumes between 2006 and 2009 by Beck Verlag. Fifty authors contributed to this project. A new edition is already under way.
In the 1990s, taking note of on-going public criticism that the ability of German society to innovate was hamstrung on account of restrictions imposed by law, Hoffmann-Riem called for the establishment of a new legal discipline, which came to be called research in law and innovation (see, e.g., "Research in Law and Innovation" ["Schriften zur rechtswissenschaftlichen Innovationsforschung"], published by Nomos Verlag). In 1995 he founded the Centre for Research in Law and Innovation (CERI) at the University of Hamburg and undertook several research projects on the importance of law in society-based technological and social innovation.
During his tenure as Senator of Justice in the Hamburg Senate, Hoffmann-Riem conceived and initiated an overhaul of Hamburg's judicial administration termed "Justice 2000", and it became a model for other German states.
Judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court
In 1999 the German Social Democratic Party (SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) nominated the politically unaffiliated scholar Hoffman-Riem as judge of the Federal Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
, and he was subsequently elected by the Bundesrat
Bundesrat of Germany
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
. His scope of responsibility encompassed, inter alia, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly
Freedom of assembly
Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
, general protection of privacy, protection of personal information, and competition law. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, he authored a series of decisions that gave rise to spirited public debate, including those on freedom of assembly and the relationship between freedom and security (for example, decisions on sweeping wiretapping powers ["Großen Lauschangriff"], wiretapping using foreign trade law or general police regulations, profiling, online searches, automated recording of car license plates, and data retention.) While recognizing the need for the state to ensure public safety, the Constitutional Court held that guarantees afforded by the rule of law may not be ignored and governmental power must be limited, and even in the face of perceived threats, it is paramount that the principles of proportionality and certainty in the application of law be respected and procedural safeguards be maintained. In these decisions (for example, in the ruling dealing with online searches), the Constitutional Court dealt extensively with developments in current technology that have long been the subject of Hoffmann-Riem's research.
Honors
In 2008 the German Federal President bestowed on Hoffmann-Riem the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.Publications
The entire list of Hoffmann-Riem's publications can be found here.His most important publications have recently been republished in the following anthologies:
- Wandel der Medienordnung. Reaktionen von Medienrecht, Medienpolitik und Medienwissenschaft, Nomos, Baden Baden 2009, ISBN 3-832-95152-0.
- Offene Rechtswissenschaft. Ausgewählte Schriften und begleitende Analysen, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2010, ISBN 3-161-50352-X.