Going Federal – A longitudinal study of 196 judges’ career trajectories to the German Federal Court of Justice from 2000 to 2020

Bohlander, Michael

Abstract

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.

Citation

Bohlander, M. (2024). Going Federal – A longitudinal study of 196 judges’ career trajectories to the German Federal Court of Justice from 2000 to 2020. Journal of Comparative Law,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2024
• Publication Date: Aug 27, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jun 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 29, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Comparative Law
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2483061
• Publisher URL: https://www.lawbookexchange.com/the-journal-of-comparative-law.php