Stephan Harbarth
 Stephan Harbarth    (politician, judge, lobbyist) | ||||||||
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| Born | 19 December 1971 Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |||||||
| Nationality | German | |||||||
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg, Yale University | |||||||
| Religion | Catholic | |||||||
| Party | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | |||||||
President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany with an itch to censor independent media. Previously corporate lawyer/lobbyist and politician.
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Stephan Harbarth is the President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, former German corporate lawyer/lobbyist in the law firm Shearman & Stirling, and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
From 2009 until 2018 he served as member of the Bundestag, while at the same time receiving large fees from Shearman & Stirling. On 22 November 2018 he was elected to the Federal Constitutional Court by the Bundestag. On 23 November 2018, one day after his election to the court, he was elected Vice President of Court by the Bundesrat, and President since 2020.[1]
Contents
Education and early career
From 1991 until 1996, Harbarth studied law at the University of Heidelberg. He received his Ph.D. in 1998, with a thesis on investor protection in public sector companies. In 2000 completed an LL.M. program at Yale Law School, on a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
From 2006 until 2008, Harbarth was a partner of the international law firm and lobbyist Shearman & Sterling in Mannheim.
Political career
Harbarth became a member of the German Bundestag in the 2009 elections. In his first term, he served on the Committee on Legal Affairs and its Subcommittee on European Law. From 2014 until 2016, he led his parliamentary group's work in the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection. During this time, he was the group's rapporteur on the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG).
From 2016, Harbarth served as deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of successive chairmen Volker Kauder (2016-2018) and Ralph Brinkhaus (2018). In this capacity, he coordinated the group's legislative activities on consumer protection, domestic affairs, sports, and minorities. He was also a member of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, he was part of the CDU delegation.[2]
President of the Federal Constitutional Court
Before Harbarth was appointed to President of the Federal Constitutional Court, the independent journalist Werner Rügemer pointed out how he was unsuited for the job:
- As a CDU deputy in the Bundestag, he violated the law regulating parliamentarians. It states: The mandate must be the main activity. But Harbarth worked full-time as a lawyer with an annual income of millions.[3]
- In the Shearman & Stirling law firm, in which Harbarth was first a lawyer and then a co-owner, the largest tax fraud in German history, the Cum-Ex-billion trick, was brought to legal maturity. At the same time, the cum ex mastermind Hanno Berger was active in the same law firm.[4]
- Shearman & Stirling is a leading law firm in international private arbitration - hardly a guarantee for the protection of the German Basic Law.
- Harbarth has represented large companies as a lawyer for the commercial law firm SZA since 2008, and the law firm still represents Volkswagen, which committed fraud in emissions measurements. Harbarth prevented a deal with VW in the Bundestag.
- Harbarth's law firm was and is also active as a tax consultant for companies and for wealthy private individuals. Harbarth also worked with this.
- As a member of parliament, he advocated harsh sanctions against the unemployed. He delayed the statutory minimum wage for as long as possible – but the legal expert has never criticized the fact that companies time and again failed to pay millions, without penalty.
References
- ↑ https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2018/bvg18-083.html
- ↑ Members of the Coalition Talks with CSU and SPD CDU.
- ↑ https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.verfassungsrichter-stephan-harbarth-langer-nachhall-eines-doppeljobs.bc4ad53c-8347-490a-ab8c-ba7fb44f94c8.html?reduced=true
- ↑ https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=59130
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