Fabian Michl

Junior Professor Fabian Michl holds a tenure-track W3 position for Public Law and Political Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Leipzig since 2021. His academic journey includes studies at the University of Regensburg (2007-2012), legal history and philosophy at the University of Edinburgh (2014/15), doctorate from Regensburg in 2017 on the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and habilitation at the University of Münster in 2025 with the thesis "Paradigms of Electoral Law."

His research focuses on several interconnected areas within constitutional law and theory:

• Constitutional Law: Party, electoral, and parliamentary law; protection of fundamental rights in Germany and Europe; democratic principle; constitutional jurisdiction
• Constitutional Theory: Democratic theory; separation of powers; equality paradigms
• Constitutional and Legal Contemporary History: Constitutional history of the Federal Republic of Germany; history of the Federal Constitutional Court; biographies of judges
• Legal Philosophy: Analytical Legal Philosophy; Legal Positivism; Social Ontological Foundations

Professor Michl's scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on electoral systems, constitutional interpretation, and the historical development of German constitutionalism. His work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical constitutional challenges, particularly in areas of voting rights, parliamentary representation, and the role of constitutional courts in democratic systems. His publications include a comprehensive commentary on electoral law (2025) and the first scholarly biography of pioneering female judge Wiltraut Rupp-von Brünneck (2022).

He supervises five doctoral projects examining critical constitutional issues:

• "Elective maturity" (Eric Böttner) on voting rights for people with disabilities
• "The designability of legislative forms" (Moses Meerstein) on legal forms of law-making
• "The public nature of the election" (Johanna Mittrop) on constitutional principles of public elections
• "The Federal Constitutional Court and Western Integration" (Gesa Friederike Plenter)
• "Civil Service and the Understanding of the State in the GDR" (Richard Schmidt)

Professor Michl actively contributes to academic discourse through lectures, seminars, and event organization including the "Law and System" series and joint seminars on parliamentary law and literature, with planned activities extending into the winter semester of 2025/26.