According to reporting by the FAZ, circles involved in personnel decisions suggest that Carsten Günther is likely to become the new President of the Federal Administrative Court.
Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has called a meeting of the judges election committee for October 15th, where Günther is expected to be elected as a federal administrative judge. Following this committee vote, the federal government must approve him via a cabinet decision to install him as President in Leipzig.
The presidency at the Federal Administrative Court has been vacant since June. After the retirement of the previous President, Andreas Korbmacher, the black-red coalition had initially nominated Malte Graßhof, the President of the Baden-Württemberg Constitutional Court, for the leadership role in Leipzig. However, Graßhof declined in June, shortly before his planned election, citing health reasons. Consequently, the black-red coalition needed to identify a replacement.
The selection of Carsten Günther was not widely anticipated in legal circles. While he is considered an excellent jurist and belongs to the CDU like Graßhof, he has only served as the President of the Münster Higher Administrative Court since last year. Previously, Günther was involved in a protracted legal dispute with the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Justice. Minister of Justice Benjamin Limbach (Greens) had initially chosen a woman for the presidency in Münster. Günther challenged this selection through a lawsuit, which he succeeded in at the Münster Administrative Court, although the Münster Higher Administrative Court ruled in favor of the minister. This matter was later appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court in 2024.
Limbach also faced political opposition: the SPD and FDP accused the minister of violating the principle of merit-based selection. They pushed for a parliamentary inquiry committee in Düsseldorf to investigate the affair. The candidate selected by Limbach ultimately withdrew her application, allowing Günther to take up the presidency in Münster in August 2025. In Leipzig, the native of Duisburg is known; he previously served as a federal administrative judge from 2015 to 2025, among other duties related to public service law and military service law.
