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Stephan Harbarth, President of the Federal Constitutional Court: Who prepared the report on his appointment as honorary professor?
Photo: Uli Deck / dpa
The University of Heidelberg must provide a Cologne lawyer with the names of those university teachers who prepared expert opinions before the appointment of the current President of the Constitutional Court, Stephan Harbarth, as honorary professor.
However, she does not have to publish the reports herself, according to the administrative court in Karlsruhe.
Harbarth was appointed honorary professor in 2018, before he was elected judge at the Federal Constitutional Court.
The law faculty of Heidelberg University initiated the procedure in autumn 2016, the administrative court announced.
She commissioned two reports from external university teachers.
In February 2018, the university senate then decided to appoint Harbarth as an honorary professor.
In 2019, the plaintiff requested information from the university about the names of the experts and the transmission of the expert opinions, but the university rejected this, essentially citing the constitutionally protected freedom of science, research and teaching.
The lawyer then went before the administrative court.
Plaintiff's motive: unknown
The court has now ruled that the university cannot invoke academic freedom when keeping names secret.
The selection of the experts is a "mere procedural step".
It is different with the reports themselves: These enable conclusions to be drawn about the requirements the university places on the scientific achievements of its honorary professors.
The plaintiff's motive is not known.
Judge Inga Behrens explained to SPIEGEL that he was based on the State Freedom of Information Act (LIFG), and no legitimate interest had to be demonstrated.
Until his election as constitutional judge in November 2018, Harbarth was a member of the Bundestag for the CDU and deputy chairman of the Union faction. He was also a partner in a law firm specializing in commercial law.
In June 2020 he was appointed President of the Constitutional Court.
The judgment of the Karlsruhe Administrative Court is not yet final.
Approval for the appeal to the Administrative Court in Mannheim can still be applied for.
File number: 11 K 1571/20
sun/AFP