Klaus Tolksdorf
Klaus Tolksdorf ( born November 14, 1948 in Gelsenkirchen ) is a German jurist. He was 2008-2014 President of the Federal Supreme Court ( BGH) and is an honorary professor at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster. He was also ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Life
Tolksdorf is the son of former Vice President of the Federal, Herbert Tolksdorf.
Born in Gelsenkirchen and grew up first in Münster, he graduated from the High School in Wiesbaden due to the headquarters of his father. He then attended the police academy in Münster. During his time in the police service of the State of North Rhine -Westphalia, he started at the Rheinische Friedrich- Wilhelms- University of Bonn to study law.
In the clerkship, and from 1978 as a judge he was at the Bonn Regional Court and the District Court Muenster act later as a judge at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm. In between, he was seconded as a research assistant at the Federal Court and the Federal Constitutional Court.
His dissertation he laid in 1988 at the prevailing liberal criminal law professor Gerald Green forest on the subject of participation prohibition for the self-conscious attorney before and received his doctorate. After he initially worked as a lecturer at the University of Münster since 1994, since 1999 he is also an honorary professor of the University.
The BGH was Tolksdorf since 1992, initially the 4th Criminal Division and, since 1995, the Great Senate for criminal matters. In 1997 he was at the same time Präsidialrichter. In the fall of 2001, he was Chief Judge of the Criminal Division of the Federal Court 3. Under his leadership, the Senate had to decide, inter alia, the revision proceedings against members of the " Hamburg cell " because of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and in the Mannesmann process.
On 24 August 2005 he was elected by the UN General Assembly ad litem judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Effective February 1, 2008 Tolksdorf was appointed as successor to Günter Hirsch as President of the Federal Court and introduced on 31 January 2008 by the Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries in this office. As President Tolksdorf was by operation of law Chairman of the Enlarged Senate of the Federal Court and the Attorney Senate. In addition, he took over, according to a long tradition, the chair of the Senate antitrust.
Effective 1 January 2013, he gave in connection with the dispute over the presidency of the 2nd Criminal Division chairs the Senate Antitrust and joined again the 3rd Criminal Division, until he new on July 1, after settlement of the dispute and appointment Presiding Judge for the 1st, 2nd and 4th criminal Division, again took over the chairmanship of the Senate antitrust.
In an article in Der Spiegel No. 8/2013 of February 18, 2013 Tolksdorf is compared in his capacity as President of the Federal Court with a landlord; therefore, a federal judge feared a " loss of reputation " of Germany's highest civil and criminal court, another talking about a " disgrace."
End of January 2014 Tolksdorf retired
Tolksdorf is married and has three adult children.