A big step and the result of years of hard work! Today I submitted my habilitation thesis “Non-Judicial Rights Review. Prospects and Limits of an Alternative Model beyond the Courts in Germany, the European Union and the United Nations“ at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg Law School.

The monograph analyzes an institutional change in the fundamental and human rights landscape: In addition to or instead of courts, a confusing variety of public commissioners, ombudsmen, agencies, institutes, commissions, committees, and councils monitor compliance with fundamental and human rights norms by public authorities at various layers of governance. Against this backdrop, the study shifts the perspective from the judicial to the non-judicial realm and examines how (effectively) these legal institutions protect rights: How are judicial and non-judicial review bodies similar and different and what added value do the latter offer beyond the courts? Do these institutions review the compatibility of applicable law with fundamental and human rights like a court or do they use other review techniques? Do public authorities comply with their decisions, even though they are not legally obliged to do so, and – if so – what mechanisms do non-judicial review institutions use to ensure compliance? In the absence of legally binding remedial powers, do they resort to a cooperative and dialogical monitoring approach and – if so – is such an approach at all appropriate for the protection of fundamental and human rights? Do they succeed in establishing broad access to justice and, in particular, in guaranteeing legal protection to socially marginalized and vulnerable people who need it most?