Research staff at the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in Karlsruhe and Heidelberg
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- Published: November 2, 2026
Since its establishment thirty years ago – the anniversary of which was duly celebrated on 16 October 2026 – IRZ has maintained close cooperation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. In addition to the ongoing professional exchange at judicial level, we have also consistently involved research staff in our consultations.
From 26 to 29 October 2026, research assistants from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine once again paid a working visit to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe and the Max Planck Institute for Foreign Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg. The visit provided an opportunity for a lively, collegial professional exchange with German colleagues, namely five research assistants, the Head of the Judicial Administration of the Federal Constitutional Court, Mr Volker Batzke (Ministerialrat), and the Head of the General Register of the Federal Constitutional Court, Ms Sigrid Krause-Reul (Regierungsdirektorin).
During the technical discussions, which were attended by the Acting President of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Prof. Dr Oleksandr Petryshyn, valuable suggestions were made regarding the practical handling of cases received by the Constitutional Court and the cooperation between the research assistants and the judges of the Constitutional Court. Dr Yvonne Ott, judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, welcomed the Ukrainian guests and congratulated the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on its 30th anniversary.
At the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, discussions were held with the institute’s former research fellow, Dr Matthias Hartwig, and former Federal Constitutional Court judge Prof. Dr Michael Eichberger, both of whom had previously served as research assistants at the Federal Constitutional Court. Both were impressed by the precise knowledge – for example, of the Federal Constitutional Court Act – demonstrated in the introductory keynote presentations given by the members of the Ukrainian delegation. Given the importance of research assistants to the constitutional courts, the German and Ukrainian sides agree that they wish to continue this practice-oriented dialogue in the future.