see The First Female President of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court
Category Archives: Biographies of Authors – Swiss Supreme Court
Alfred Kölz
Alfred Kölz went to school at the high school in the city of Solothurn. After his matura, he began to study chemical engineering at the Swiss Institute of Technology. After two semesters, he changed to law at the Universities of Zurich and Berne. In 1973 he received his doctoral degree with a thesis “Prozessmaximen im Schweizerischen Verwaltungsrecht”.
Thomas Cottier, Editor and Author
Thomas Cottier, former Managing Director of the World Trade Institute and the Institute of European and International Economic Law, is a Professor emeritus of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern. He was educated at the University of Bern and was a research fellow with Professor Jörg Paul Müller in constitutional and public international law.
Maya Hertig Randall
Maya Hertig Randall holds a Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg, a first class LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge and was admitted to the Geneva bar in 2002. She joined the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva as Professor of constitutional law in 2007.
Maya Ackermann
Maya Ackermann studied political science at the Universities of Zurich and Bern. From 2014 to 2018 she was a Research Assistant at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern, where she obtained her doctorate in political science in 2018. Since then she has been a Research Associate for the Swiss Alzheimer’s Association.
Heinz Aemisegger
Heinz Aemisegger (born 1947) studied law at the University of Zurich, was admitted to the bar in Schaffhausen in 1972 and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1975. After working as a legal assistant for the Swiss Association for Regional Planning, he served as justice on the High Court of the Canton of Schaffhausen from 1975 to 1987, and as part-time judge at the Federal Supreme Court from 1984 to 1987. From 1987 to 2014 he was a member of the Federal Supreme Court, which he presided over from 2003 to 2004. Since resigning as federal judge he has been a legal consultant for a major law firm. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Zurich in 2014. In his work on the bench and a legal theorist he focused in part on addressing spatially related matters (spatial planning, building law, environmental protection, etc.).
Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger
Margrith Bigler-Eggenberger was born on 14 March 1933 in Henau (today Uzwil), Canton of St. Gallen. After reading law in Geneva and Zurich she received her doctorate in 1959 in Zurich with a dissertation on criminal law, the sociological orientation of which demonstrated the importance of societal realities in her views regarding the law already at that age.
Johann Jakob Blumer
Johann Jakob Blumer, born 1819, of Glarus and Schwanden (Canton of Glarus), was a historian, liberal-minded and dedicated supporter of the modern Confederation. After reading law from 1836-1840 in Lausanne and Zurich and partly abroad (Bonn and Berlin), and before his election as a federal judge in 1848, he was a judge at the civil court in Glarus. He played a key role in drafting of the new constitution as a delegate to the Diet, and in 1848 he chaired the Commission for the Determination of the Federal Seat. From 1848-1874 he represented the canton of Glarus in the Council of States, which he presided over in 1853. From 1865 he repeatedly chaired the Commission for the Revision of the Federal Constitution.
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer (born 1938) studied at Stanford University and at Oxford University, receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the latter. He then studied law at Harvard. In 1964 he worked as a law clerk at the US Supreme Court for Judge Arthur Goldberg. In 1973 he was Assistant Special Prosecutor in the investigation of the Watergate scandal. From 1967 to 1994 he was a professor at Harvard Law School, and a visiting professor in Sydney and Rome. He began his judicial career in 1980 at the Federal Court of Appeals for the 1st district. Since 1994 he has been a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, nominated by President Clinton.
Mathieu Devinat
Mathieu Devinat studied law at the University of Montreal. He was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1995 and received his doctorate from the Universities of Aix-Marseille and Montreal in 2001. Since 2013 he has been full professor of Civil Law, Legal History and Legal Linguistics at the University of Sherbrooke (Province of Quebec, Canada). He is a member of the Academy for European Social Law (Salzburg).
Bardo Fassbender
Bardo Fassbender (born 1963) studied law, history and political science at the University of Bonn and Yale Law School. He received his doctorate and post-doctoral habilitation at Humboldt University, Berlin. After teaching and researching law at Yale University, Florence, Milan, Frankfurt/Oder, Turin and Munich, he was full professor of international law at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich from 2008 – 2013, specializing in international human rights protection. Since 2013 he has been full professor of International, European and Public Law at the University of St. Gallen.
Antoine Favre
Antoine Favre was born in 1897 in Sion, Canton of Valais. After obtaining the licence ès lettres from the Sorbonne in Paris he read law at the University of Freiburg i.Ü. and Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1926 he received his doctorate in Freiburg i.Ü. After being admitted to the bar in the Canton of Valais, he worked as an attorney in Sion.
Alexandra Gerber
Alexandra Gerber (born 1962) studied law at the Universities of Tübingen and Aix-en-Provence, and in 1989 passed the 2nd State Exam. From 1989 to 1994 she was a Research Associate at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne, and obtained her law degree from the University of Bern in 1993. Since 1994 she has worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) and Research Associate at the Federal Supreme Court.
André Jomini
André Jomini (born 1962) obtained his law degree from the University of Lausanne in 1985. After working as attorney in the canton of Vaud and as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court, he was appointed as justice of the Cantonal Court of Vaud in 2009, working in part in the Constitutional Law section. He also serves as judge on the Military Cassation Court, the highest instance of appeal in the military justice system, which hears cases subject to military criminal law. Continue reading
Helen Keller
Helen Keller (born 1964) studied law at and received her doctorate from the University of Zurich. After completing her LL.M. in Bruges and research stays at Harvard Law School, the European University Institute in Florence and the Max Planck Institute for Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, she earned her post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich.
Susanne Leuzinger, Editor and Author
Susanne Leuzinger (born 1949) studied law at the University of Zurich (licentiate 1972, doctorate 1994) and was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich in 1974. After 20 years as an attorney in Zurich and specializing in insurance and liability law, in particular social security law, she was part-time president of the newly created Federal Appeals Commission for Accident Insurance from 1994 to 1996 (which was absorbed into the newly created Federal Administrative Court in 2007), and judge at the newly created Social Security Court of the canton of Zurich from 1995 to 1996. In 1996, she was appointed as a federal judge at the Federal Insurance Court (organizationally independent social security division of the Federal Supreme Court).
Adolf Lüchinger
Adolf Lüchinger (1928 – 2020) studied law in Zurich and Geneva and received his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 1954. In 1957 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Zurich and opened his own law office in Zurich in 1960. From the same year onwards, he worked part-time as a judge at the Administrative Court of the canton of Zurich. In 1968 he was appointed federal judge. He resigned from his post in 1992. In 1993 the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Michele Luminati
Michele Luminati (born 1960) studied law at the University of Zurich, where he received his doctorate in 1995 and his habilitation in 2007. Since 2004 he has been full professor of legal history and theory of law at the University of Lucerne. There he founded the Institute for Legal Foundations (lucernaiuris). Since 2008 he has also been a titular professor at the University of Zurich. From 2013 – 2016 he was director of the Istituto Svizzero in Rome, which strengthens the cultural and scientific relations between Switzerland and Italy.
Jörg Paul Müller
Jörg Paul Müller (born 1938) studied law and sociology at the Universities of Geneva and Bern and earned an LL.M. from Harvard. In 1971 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern. In the same year he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern where he was a full professor for Constitutional Law, International Law and Philosophy of Law from 1971 to 2001. He also taught constitutional law, theory of state and political ethics at the universities of Freiburg i.Ü., Basel and St. Gallen and at ETH Zurich.
Pascal Pichonnaz, Editor and Author
Pascal Pichonnaz, former Dean of Fribourg Faculty of Law (2014-2017), is professor for Swiss and Comparative Contract Law, European Consumer Law and Roman Law. He was educated at the University of Fribourg, where he got his PhD and his Habilitation. He took the bar exam in Fribourg (1994). He studied also at Berkeley Law (LL.M., 1997) and has spent a research year at the University of Regensburg (Germany, 1997-1998, Chair of Prof. Dr Reinhard Zimmermann), and then several months at the MPI Hamburg (2005), at Università la Sapienza (2005) and at Stellenbosh University, South Africa (2010). He has also been fellow of the Robbins Collection, Berkeley (2005).
Since 2008, he his co-founder and co-Director of the LL.M. in Business Law at the Faculty of Law of Fribourg (www.unifr.ch/ius/llm) Master of Laws in cross-cultural business practice.
Dietrich Schindler Junior
Dietrich Schindler-Kuhn (1924 – 2018) studied law in Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Harvard, and earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Zurich in 1957. In parallel with and after lecturing at the University of Zurich, the University of Bonn, the University of Michigan and the Hague Academy of International Law, he was full professor for International, European, Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Zurich from 1968 to 1989.
Martin Schubarth
Martin Schubarth (born 1942) studied law in Basel. In 1968, he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Basel-Stadt and in 1973 qualified as a professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Basel. From 1969 to 1983 he worked as an attorney in Basel, then from 1976 to 1980 he was a professor at the University of Bonn, and at the University of Hannover from 1980 to 1983. He was appointed as Federal Supreme Court justice in 1982. He served as Federal Supreme Court President from 1999 to 2000, resigning in 2004. He then returned to private practise, working as an attorney for a major law firm in Lausanne.
Paul Tschümperlin
Paul Tschümperlin (born 1956) studied law and received his doctorate from the University of Freiburg i.Ü. in 1984. He was admitted to the bar in the canton of Schwyz in 1986. He then worked as Court Clerk (Opinion Editor) at the Federal Supreme Court. He has been Secretary General of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court since 1991, overseeing the administration of the Federal Supreme Court. During his term on the Federal Supreme Court he has also been a member of the Military Court of Cassation since 2006 and served as its President since 2017, which is the highest instance of appeal in the military judiciary, responsible for hearing cases subject to military criminal law. His academic publications mainly concern the constitutional status of the Federal Supreme Court and court organization.
Felix Uhlmann
Felix Uhlmann (born 1969) studied law and economics in Basel and Lausanne. He received his LL.M. from Harvard Law School, and was admitted to the bar in the canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2004 he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Basel, where he was Assistant Professor from 2001 to 2004. Since 2006 he has been full professor for Constitutional and Administrative Law and Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich and Director of the Centre for Legislation Theory at the University of Zurich.
Adrian Vatter
Adrian Vatter (born 1965) studied economics and political science at the University of Bern, where he received his doctorate in political science in 1993. He then completed a post doc at the University of California at Los Angeles. After founding his own political consulting and research firm in Bern and working as Research Assistant at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, he earned his post-doctoral habilitation at the University of Bern, where he became Assistant Professor for Policy Analysis and Evaluation in 2001. Thereafter he was a professor at the Universities of Constance (D) and Zurich from 2002, and since 2009 he has been Director of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern and holder of the Professorial Chair for Swiss Politics. He consults for various parliamentary bodies of the Swiss Confederation, among other clients.
Gustav Vogt
Gustav Vogt (1829 – 1901, originally from the Grand Duchy of Hesse, from 1846 officially from Erlach BE) studied law at the University of Bern, where he earned his post-doctoral habilitation in 1855. After working as an attorney, journalist and criminal prosecutor, he became Director of the Federal Statistical Bureau in 1860 and full professor of constitutional law at the University of Bern in 1862.
Hans Peter Walter
Hans Peter Walter (born 1944) studied law at the University of Bern. In 1969 he was admitted to the bar of the canton of Bern and worked as a lawyer in Bern from 1969 to 1986. From 1982 – 1986 he was a part-time federal judge, and from 1987 – 2004 a full Federal Supreme Court justice, which he presided over in 2001/2002. After lecturing at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg during his term as a federal judge, thereafter from 2004 to 2010 he was a full professor in the fields of private and commercial law at the University of Bern, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997.
Daniel Wüger
Daniel Wüger studied law at the University of Bern. In 2002, he graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in international commercial law. After working at the Institute for European and International Economic Law and serving as Program Manager at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University, he was responsible for European law and Schengen/Dublin coordination at the Federal Office of Justice of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2019. Since 2019 he has been Deputy Secretary General of the Department.