Anja Seibert-Fohr

Anja Seibert-Fohr (born 3 April 1969, Giessen, Germany ) is a German jurist, Professor for public law, public international law and human rights, and holder of the corresponding university chair at the University of Heidelberg. She has been serving as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights since 2020.

Early life and education Seibert-Fohr studied law at the Universities of Bonn, Gießen and Heidelberg with a scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes. During her studies, she attended courses at the Hague Academy of International Law and the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. From 1997 onwards she continued her studies at the George Washington University (GWU) and graduated with a Master of Law in 2000 and a Doctor of Juridical Science in 2004. Her Doctoral adviser was Tom Burgenthal, judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague at the time. She followed up on her studies at the Heidelberg University from where she obtained her habilitation in 2012.

Professional career Between 2002 and 2012, she was a lecturer in international law at the University of Heidelberg. Between 2010 and 2011 she was a member of the Scientific Founding Committee of the International Academy of the Nuremberg Principles. In 2012, she was elected into the United Nations Human Rights Committee, in which she served as a member between 2013 and 2018 and as its vice-president from 2015 to 2017. She contributed to numerous research studies on human rights and international law.

Judge at the ECHR Seibert-Fohr was elected as a judge at the ECHR by the Parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in June 2019 and on the 1 January 2020, she assumed her post. For the term of her post as judge at the ECHR, she was given leave from her post as a professor at the University of Heidelberg. She also sees the eastern expansion of the European Union as an important step for Europe as a whole and for Germany in specific.