Thomas Fischer (lawyer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Fischer at re: publica 2016

Thomas Günther Otto Fischer (born April 29, 1953 in Werdohl ) is a German legal scholar and a former presiding judge of the 2nd Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice . He writes an annually revised standard short commentary on the Criminal Code (StGB) and is known to the broad public through controversial columns on Zeit Online (until 2017) and Der Spiegel (since 2019) and through television appearances.

Life

The son of a Sudeten German doctor grew up in Finnentrop - Rönkhausen until 1969 . He attended high school in Plettenberg , left his parents' house at the age of 16 and attended a high school in Friedberg (Hesse) , which he dropped out in 12th grade. After that he worked as a carpenter, musician and parcel deliverer. He lived for two years in a musicians' commune in Worms . After returning to the Friedberger Gymnasium, Fischer passed his Abitur in 1975. He was then drafted into the German armed forces as a tank hunter , but after four months he was recognized as a conscientious objector . He did his community service as a paramedic with the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund in Frankfurt-Höchst .

Fischer studied German at the University of Frankfurt am Main from 1976 to 1978 , but dropped out. He then worked for several years as a parcel delivery company in Frankfurt. In 1980 he began studying law and economics at the University of Würzburg ; he passed the first state examination in 1984 . In 1986, he was charged with a dissertation on the subject of public peace and thoughts statement at the University of Wuerzburg at Ulrich Weber doctorate . In addition to his work as a judge, he also studied sociology there from 1990 to 1993 .

Fischer is married and has two grown sons. He lives in Baden-Baden .

activities

Professional development

After completing the second state examination in 1987, Fischer entered the Bavarian higher judicial service in 1988 . From 1988 to 1990 he worked as a criminal judge at the district courts of Ansbach and Weißenburg , from 1991 to 1992 as a research assistant at the Federal Court of Justice (1st criminal division). On January 1, 1993, he switched to the judicial service of the Free State of Saxony, initially as a judge at the Leipzig Regional Court , where he quickly became chairman of a large general criminal chamber and the jury chamber , from 1994 as the presiding judge at the Leipzig regional court and chairman of the jury chamber . In 1996 he was appointed Ministerialrat in the Saxon State Ministry of Justice , where he headed the department for criminal procedural law, criminal data protection and criminal law processing of SED injustice until 2000, from 1999 as deputy head of the criminal law department.

In 2000, Fischer was elected judge at the Federal Court of Justice . From July 1, 2000 he was a member of the 2nd Criminal Senate, from 2008 its Deputy Chairman and from June 1, 2013 Chairman of the Senate. From 2000 to 2003 he was also an investigative judge of the Federal Court of Justice, from 2007 to 2011 permanent assessor of the Federal Judicial Service Court and from 2008 a member of the Grand Senate for Criminal Matters of the Federal Court of Justice and of the joint senate of the highest federal courts.

Fischer taught criminal law and criminal procedural law at the University of Leipzig from 1993 to 2000 . From 1991 he taught legal sociology, criminal law and criminal procedural law at the University of Würzburg , where he was appointed honorary professor for criminal law and criminal procedural law in 1998 .

Fischer took early retirement at the end of April 2017.

Legal dispute over the position of chairman of the Senate

In the summer of 2011 , Fischer successfully defended himself against an official assessment by the President of the Federal Court of Justice Klaus Tolksdorf and the intended appointment of another applicant as presiding judge at the Federal Court of Justice. This was the first successful competitor litigation at the Federal Court of Justice. According to a report by the Frankfurter Rundschau , three BGH judges had "left the 2nd criminal senate" because they did not want to work with Fischer, which is why Tolksdorf had downgraded Fischer's assessment and was able to suggest another candidate. On October 24, 2011, at Fischer's request , the Karlsruhe Administrative Court issued an interim order that initially prohibited the Federal Ministry of Justice from filling the position. According to the court, the judgment, which Fischer's always affirmed special suitability for this post, questioned, was not sufficiently well founded. The decision has been final since November 11, 2011. Fischer applied not only for one, but for all chairpersons in the criminal senates that became vacant. Tolksdorf again rated him worse, Fischer complained again, so that all positions remained vacant. In May 2013 there was an agreement between Fischer and Federal Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP). On June 25, 2013, Fischer was appointed presiding judge at the Federal Court of Justice, whereupon the Presidium of the Federal Court of Justice assigned him the position of Chairman of the 2nd Criminal Senate. He then withdrew all complaints.

Specialized journalistic activity

Fischer is known for numerous specialist publications, in particular for the short commentary on the penal code founded by Otto Schwarz , edited by him since 1999 and written by himself , which belongs to the so-called gray series of the CHBeck publishing house and is revised annually in a new edition. In numerous federal states, the "fisherman" is the only approved aid for substantive criminal law in assessor exams and is described by Günther Jakobs as a "masterpiece of clarity and condensation". Fischer has been a co-author of the Karlsruhe Commentary on the Code of Criminal Procedure since 1993 . Since 1999 he has co- edited the New Journal for Criminal Law (NStZ), and since 2013 also the Journal for Medical Criminal Law ( medstra ).

Column "Fishermen in Law"

From January 2015 to May 2017, Fischer wrote a weekly column ("Fischer im Recht") as a freelance author for Zeit Online , which was intended to convey current cases and fundamentals of law to the general public. His aim was "to place criminal law in a social context and to explain it a little more closely and a little differently" than usual. In his announcement, he named education, instruction and criticism about the role of the law, which is often misunderstood and rejected out of “dull indignation”, but should also not hide behind its “dignity”: members of the judiciary are “none exempt from criticism Elite ", but socially responsible. The column ended with its 118th episode on May 3, 2017 under the title “To the end”. It reached several hundred thousand readers a week, in individual cases well over a million. A selection was published in 2016 in the book Im Recht , a collection of aphorisms 2017 under the title Richter Sprüche (both Verlag Droemer).

In March 2018, the time ended their cooperation with Fischer, because he had behaved disloyally. The trigger was the reporting of allegations made by several women against Dieter Wedel . Fischer had offered Zeit a text in January in which he accused the weekly newspaper of having participated in a public prejudice of Wedels. After Die Zeit refused to print, Fischer offered the online media service Meedia a supplemented version of his article. Meedia published the text, but informed the editors-in-chief of the time about it in advance .

Spiegel Online column "are right"

Fischer has been writing for Spiegel online since August 21, 2018 . In his new column every second Friday he critically examines questions of criminal law and society. The first issue was titled Sami A. and The Rule of Law: Then everyone has to be afraid .

Media column "Fischer's little press review"

From the end of August 2018 to mid-February 2019, Fischer wrote an approximately two-week column for the media portal Meedia.de with the title Fischer's small press review . Fischer has announced on the portal that he will continue to publish there as a guest author, but no longer regularly.

Television appearances

Fischer is also a guest on television programs, such as interviews, documentaries and talk shows. After the talk show, Policemen: Whipping Boys of the Nation? With Sandra Maischberger , Fischer expressed himself critically about this talk show and talk shows in general: The “directing idea” of the show in question consisted of “putting some people together in the hope that they would misunderstand, yell at and insult each other.” Regarding talk shows in general he said: “Maischberger, jungle camp or Big Bang Theory. Every thirty seconds the tatters have to fly, the pugs hop or the rubbish tumble out of the cheering machine, otherwise the bio-German poet and thinker will be bored. Welcome to the Brave New World. "

Memberships

From 1994 to 1997 Fischer was the first chairman of the Board of Appeal of the Association for the German Canine System . He is a member of Amnesty International Germany , Transparency International and the German Society for Human Dying .

reception

On Fischer's column at Zeit Online , Jost Müller-Neuhof commented in the Tagesspiegel , “Analysis, language skills, knowledge, attitude, these characteristics run through every text”; Fischer shows a “desire for contradiction” and an aggressive “contempt for the familiar and the ordinary”. Thomas Darnstädt judged the “rocker at the court” that his column was a “foamy mix of ingenuity and nonsense, free associations and film tips, meandering arguments, excessive exaggerations and sometimes ingenious exaggerations,” apparently “unedited ... and unchecked” by space restrictions like in the Print. Fischer's enthusiasm for opinion is controversial; For example, an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , with which he regularly dealt with in his column, criticized that it was “felt to be malicious and defamatory”. But the FAZ also states "... Fischer is considered an outstanding lawyer in the Federal Court of Justice, but also difficult to deal with." Urban Sandherr, judge at the Berlin Court of Justice and editor of the Deutsche Richterzeitung , accused Fischer of having "brute convictions" for technical understanding and to “disavow and counteract” constructive criticism of the German legal system. The criminal law teacher Günther Jakobs described some of the Zeit columns published in 2016 as “true cabinet pieces” and certified them with a “legal political impetus”, as “emphatically own views” presented with “amazing clarity”. The reviewer for Deutschlandfunk said that Fischer wrote “unusually open and mentally refreshing”; the book moves "between polemics, provocation and instruction". With a view to the large audience of Fischer at university lectures , the Unispiegel wrote in May 2016 that Fischer was "becoming a kind of pop star and explainer for students and other young people".

The 2nd Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice, led by Fischer, was considered a "rebel senate" because it deviated from the existing case law of the Federal Court of Justice more often than other senates. It was also alleged that this Senate dealt with significantly fewer proceedings than the other criminal panels because of Fischer's extensive sideline activities . In July 2016, the judge of the first BGH criminal senate , Andreas Mosbacher , said that Fischer was violating the principle of moderation in public statements resulting from the principle of judicial independence . Mosbacher referred to Fischer's sexualized, critically degrading language and sharp personal opinions on ongoing proceedings, namely the NSU trial and the trial against Sebastian Edathy . Volker Zastrow took up this criticism in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and wrote that Fischer had stylized himself "for years as a nest-polluter"; he attested to him "sparkling intelligence, the unmistakable journalistic talent, the flight of thoughts and whatever else floats the synapses, the aggressiveness and ultimately downright enthusiastic malice". - Fischer is causing unrest in the Federal Court of Justice and damaging its reputation. On the other hand, Uwe Schmitt in the Welt am Sonntag , also referring to Mosbacher, came to the conclusion that the German debate culture needed “more fishermen. Not less."

Fonts

  • Public peace and expression of thoughts. Basics and development of the legal interest “public peace”, especially in §§ 126, 130, 140 No. 2, 166 StGB. Dissertation. Würzburg 1986, DNB 870766457 .
  • In the right. Statements from Germany's most famous criminal judge. Droemer, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3426276853 .
  • Judges sayings. Droemer, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-426-27747-8 .
  • About punishing. Law and Security in a Democratic Society . Droemer, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-426-27687-7 .
  • Criminal code with ancillary laws (= Beck's short comments. Volume 10). 66th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-406-72436-7 .

literature

  • Joachim Jahn : Fischer in law retired. In: NJW -aktuell. Issue 13/2017, p. 18 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Overview of Fischer's columns on Spiegel Online
  2. ↑ On the educational path, see Joachim Karpa: His book is considered the Bible in criminal law. In: DerWesten , June 29, 2014; Christian Rath : Columnist and star lawyer: Fischer in Rock. In: Die Tageszeitung , March 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Simone Schmollack: Open letter to Thomas Fischer. He's adding one more thing. In: taz.de , March 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ a b Vita. In: Fischer-StGB.de , accessed on February 16, 2016.
  5. ^ Presiding judge at the Federal Court of Justice Prof. Dr. Thomas Fischer retired. In: juris.bundesgerichtshof.de. Federal Court of Justice , April 28, 2017, accessed on May 2, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Reinhard Müller : Judge at the Federal Court of Justice: March, March through the instances. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ Ursula Knapp: Dispute about Thomas Fischer: Judge dispute at the BGH ends. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , May 28, 2013.
  8. ^ VG Karlsruhe stops appointment of a presiding judge. In: Legal Tribune Online , October 26, 2011.
  9. ↑ a b Ursula Knapp: Blocked federal courts. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , March 21, 2015, p. 5.
  10. ↑ Ursula Knapp: Dispute about Thomas Fischer: Judge dispute at the BGH ends.
  11. ^ Federal Minister of Justice appoints judges at the Federal Court of Justice. BMJ press release, June 25, 2013.
  12. ↑ Thomas Fischer: Criminal Code and Additional Laws (= Beck'sche Kurzkommentare. Volume 10). 66th edition. Beck, Munich 2019.
  13. ^ A b Günther Jakobs : BGH judge Thomas Fischer: If you don't write clearly, you don't think clearly either. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , April 1, 2016.
  14. ↑ According to his own statement, a play on words with his name that does not mean fisherman is right , but fishing is right - Thomas Fischer: Im prison. In: Die Zeit , April 5, 2016.
  15. ^ Column fishermen in law on the website of the time .
  16. ^ A b Annette Wilmes : BGH judge Thomas Fischer: Making criminal law understandable. In: Deutschlandfunk .de , May 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ Thomas Fischer: Federal Judge: Fischer im Recht - The Beginning. In: Zeit Online . January 13, 2015, accessed August 28, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Thomas Fischer: At the end. In: Zeit Online . May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Claudia Tieschky: “Die Zeit” separates from “Fischer im Recht”. In: Sueddeutsche.de. March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018 .
  20. ^ Adrienne Warren / Thomas Fischer / Emmanuel Macron . In: Der Spiegel . ( spiegel.de [accessed on March 24, 2018]).
  21. ↑ Marc Felix Serrao: No time for contradiction: "Die Zeit" separates itself from its most fiery guest author in a dispute. In: NZZ .ch. March 27, 2018, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  22. ^ Association of German Newspaper Publishers : Fischer becomes Spiegel online's new columnist.
  23. ↑ Fischer at Spiegel online
  24. ↑ Website Meedia.de
  25. ↑ Preface to the column from February 13, 2019 on Meedia.de
  26. ^ State show Baden-Württemberg: Thomas Fischer, a rocker who became a lawyer | Guest in the studio. March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  27. ↑ SWR: Prof. Dr. Thomas Fischer: Litigious judge at the Federal Court of Justice | SWR people night. August 22, 2015. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  28. ↑ DuoBox: Topic: Powerless justice? PHOENIX November 2016. November 4, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Vitaliy Malykin: German Justice - How Endangered Are Our Rights ? March 24, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  30. ^ Judie Vega: Nachtcafé Law and Justice, including Thomas Fischer Federal Judge 02.12.2016. January 15, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  31. ↑ sogln®: Criminal Judge Thomas Fischer speaks KLARTEXT excerpt from the ZDF broadcast by Markus Lanz. March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  32. ↑ Free opinion: Maischberger - police officers - whipping boys of the nation 02/01/2017. February 3, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017 .
  33. ↑ FOCUS Online: After his appearance on TV: Thomas Fischer reckons with Maischberger . In: FOCUS Online . ( focus.de [accessed on April 27, 2017]).
  34. ↑ “Unsuspecting moderators”, “uninformed editors”: Federal judge Thomas Fischer reckons with TV talk shows after “Maischberger” visit ›Meedia. February 9, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2017 .
  35. ↑ Jost Müller-Neuhof: Justice Talk: The judge has the last word. In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 20, 2015.
  36. ↑ Thomas Darnstädt : Rocker at the court. In: Spiegel Online , February 6, 2017.
  37. ↑ Maximilian Steinbeis : Editorial: Thomas Fischer, surrounded by idiots. In: Verfassungsblog , February 5, 2015; Margarete Stokowski: Column air and love: In the right, in the ass. In: the daily newspaper , February 19, 2015.
  38. ↑ a b Helene Bubrowski: Federal Court: Always only to fishermen. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , March 13, 2016.
  39. ↑ Urban Sandherr: Brute convictions. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , April 30, 2015, p. 7 (PDF) .
  40. ↑ Francesco Giammarco: Popular Speaker: Richter Rock 'n' Roll. In: Spiegel Online , May 24, 2016.
  41. ↑ Constantin Baron van Lijnden : Interview with Thomas Fischer: "If protest against nonsense makes me a rebel, I like to be one". In: Legal Tribune Online , July 14, 2015.
  42. ^ Andreas Mosbacher : Judicial moderation and modern media. Facebook “Sheriff” and online columnist: modern judges. In: Legal Tribune Online , July 25, 2016.
  43. ↑ Volker Zastrow : "Fishermen in the Right": The judge with the thick silicone breasts. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , July 31, 2016. Henning Rasche expresses similar criticism: Federal Court of Justice: Don't mess with Judge Fischer. In: Rheinische Post , August 16, 2016.
  44. ↑ Uwe Schmitt : Can he do that? In: Welt am Sonntag , July 31, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Fischer, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fischer, Thomas Günther Otto (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German legal scholar and judge at the Federal Court of Justice
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Werdohl