University of Tübingen Partners with Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart to Enhance Rule of Law
University of Tübingen and the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart have entered into a cooperation agreement to strengthen the rule of law that is unique in Baden-Württemberg. Legal science and jurisprudence will work more closely together in the future. The quality of teaching and jurisprudence will benefit equally from this.
Judges will be involved in teaching in the future
At the ceremonial signing of the cooperation agreement in the New Auditorium of the Faculty of Law, the President of the Higher Regional Court, Dr. Andreas Singer, explained: “The main challenge for our young judges is to apply the knowledge they have learned at university in the numerous court proceedings. Even during their studies, the practical application of what they have learned, oriented towards procedural law, is therefore playing an increasingly important role.” From the coming winter semester, experienced judges from the district of the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court will therefore offer a course at the Faculty of Law and solve current civil law cases together with the students.
“The series of lectures, which is geared towards judicial practice, covers topics from the core area of the examination material for the first legal examination and thus ensures an ideal connection between science and exam preparation,” says the Vice-Rector for Teaching, Prof. Dr. Karin Amos. However, it is also about providing important insights into the office of judge and anchoring a strong, independent judiciary as a cornerstone of our free, democratic constitutional state, says Amos.
Professors as part-time judges
“At the same time, we want to strengthen the scientific perspective on the bench, for example when it comes to complex cross-border legal issues. Professors from the law faculty should therefore increasingly work as part-time judges at the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court in the future,” says the Dean of the Law Faculty, Prof. Dr. Jens-Hinrich Binder.
Further content of the cooperation agreement
In addition, the university and the Higher Regional Court have agreed to cooperate on training courses and seminars. “In future, the Higher Regional Court will also actively support students at the Faculty of Law in their search for attractive internships at the courts,” says Singer. “The fact that we are providing even greater support to trainees in their important secondary activities for research and teaching at the university also brings us closer together,” explains the Dean of the Faculty of Law.
The rule of law will continue to be in urgent need of excellence in the future.
The President of the Higher Regional Court emphasises the exceptional position of the University of Tübingen: “The Faculty of Law enjoys an excellent reputation in legal education thanks to the lively connection between science and teaching. Students often achieve above-average results in the first legal examination. Our rule of law will continue to be in urgent need of this excellence in the future. As a judiciary, we therefore want to make our contribution during university education and create the basis for a successful start to a career in the judiciary and the legal profession.”
Cooperation to be expanded further in the future
“In the future, we want to expand our cooperation to include criminal law and family law,” Binder says. “Especially in criminal law, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court, with its first-instance jurisdiction for the largest state security proceedings, is particularly well suited to offering students valuable insights into criminal proceedings and at the same time conveying to them the importance of the courts in defending our freedom and our fundamental rights.” The cooperation partners agree: “In the coming years, it will be crucial to strengthen the defenses of a free society against extremist threats. To do this, we urgently need our young people. Each and every one of them counts. Our constitutional order will only have a future if, in times when liberal democracy and its constitutional structures are challenged, young people are also prepared to stand up for freedom, democracy and the law.”