INFORMATION ON UN DISPUTE TRIBUNAL GERMAN CANDIDATE THOMAS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAMBURG 000005

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR BRIAN HACKETT (IO/MPR) AND DARIN JOHNSON (L/UNA)
USUN FOR BRUCE RASHKOW (USUN/MR) AND MARK SIMONOFF (USUN/L)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ACABQ AORC APER KUNR PREL UNGA UNGA UNGA
GM
SUBJECT: INFORMATION ON UN DISPUTE TRIBUNAL GERMAN CANDIDATE THOMAS
LAKER

REF: STATE 016118

HAMBURG 00000005 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) Per request in reftel, ConGen Hamburg spoke with local
legal and government contacts regarding Dr. Thomas Laker's
candidacy for the UN Dispute Tribunal. Our responses to the
questions in reftel paragraph 6 are provided below.


2. (SBU) Question 1: Please provide views on the candidate's
judicial expertise, particularly any experience in the area of
administrative and employment law.

Answer: Post's contacts assessed Dr. Laker to be an excellent
candidate in all aspects for the UN Dispute Tribunal. They were
only sad to see him potentially leave Hamburg's court system.

According to the President of the Hamburg Administrative Court,
Dr. Laker has been a judge at the Administrative Court for 20
years. Within that period of time he has covered the diverse
areas of law, which fall under the court's jurisdiction. The
Hamburg Administrative Court is divided into several chambers of
three to five judges. Dr. Laker is currently presiding judge of
one of these chambers for which he determines the body's legal
guidelines. His chamber is responsible for foreigners and
social welfare cases. He also serves on the Administrative
Court's Executive Committee - a position elected by his peers.

Prior to becoming a judge, Dr. Laker worked as a lawyer and
served in two of Hamburg's state ministries. He worked on the
mayor's staff in the organizational office ("Organisationsamt")
and then later for the state ministry of justice where he was
responsible for Hamburg's reform of its administrative system.

Dr. Laker is familiar with all areas of administrative law,
however, he has, in the past, specialized in social security
law. When jurisdiction over this type of law was moved to a
different court, Dr. Laker assisted in training the members of
the new court. He is an instructor at the Hamburg University
for Public Administration. Dr. Laker is also a trained mediator.


3. (SBU) Question 2: Please provide views on the candidate's
reputation among the judiciary and in the country, and in
particular views on impartiality and judicial bearing.

Answer: Dr. Laker enjoys an outstanding reputation within the
Hamburg legal community. He is considered to be competent,
flexible, well-balanced, an excellent team-player, and very
personable. His legal, personal, and communication skills were
deemed to be at the highest levels. He was described as someone
who easily takes initiative and would be well-suited for
creating a new tribunal. A representative of the legal
department of the Hamburg Central Resident Office
("Einwohnerzentralamt"),who brings cases before his court,
described Laker as a judge who strives to create a good court
atmosphere and someone who attempts to find balanced
settlements.


4. (SBU) Question 3: Please provide views on the candidate's
ability to follow the law as written (e.g. does the candidate
follow a rules-based approach, limiting decisions to
interpreting the law as written, or do they take a more
expansive view of the law, incorporating non-statutory norms).

Answer: The President of the Hamburg Higher Administrative
Court considered Laker to be a well-balanced judge who follows
juridical methods (i.e. letter of the law),but who also looks
at the spirit and purpose of the law. Laker uses the law as a
tool, but also understands how to implement the spirit of the
law when interpretation is not clear.

The President of the Hamburg Administrative Court explained that
the law applied within the court's jurisdiction is not as
detailed as other types of law, such as criminal law. In order
to be a capable judge, one must be able to take other aspects of
the case under consideration. The types of cases which come
before Laker's bench are extremely diverse and require a broad
understanding of the law and flexibility in interpreting the law
in order to make the best ruling.

The Hamburg Central Resident Office legal department's
representative stated that Laker sometimes moved beyond the law
as written if he felt that a strict interpretation of the law
would not do justice to the persons concerned.


5. (SBU) Question 4: Within the country's judicial structure,
at what level did this candidate serve: municipal/local,
state/provincial, federal/national?

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Answer: Dr. Laker is a judge at the Hamburg Administrative
Court, a state-level body. Please see response to the first
question regarding his previous experience.


6. (SBU) Question 5: Does the government have any views
concerning the general fitness of a candidate to serve on the
UNDT/UNAT?

Answer: Michael Fabri-Weiland of the German MFA's UN desk
stated that Germany would very much appreciate the support of
the USA for the German candidature of Mr. Thomas Laker for the
post of a judge at the UN Dispute Tribunal (UNDT Geneva) at the
elections to be held on 02 March 2009.

The Presidents of the Hamburg Administrative Court and of the
Higher Administrative Court also strongly supported Laker's
nomination. Both found him very well qualified and suitable to
such a position. The contact from the Hamburg Central Resident
Office believes that Laker would be a "good" selection for a
position at the UN Dispute Tribunal.


7. (SBU) Question 6: Is there any disqualifying information
that you are aware of with respect to this candidate (e.g.
corruption, impropriety, politically-influenced decision-making)?

Answer: Post found no derogatory information on the candidate.


8. (SBU) Question 7: Please share any other views that you
believe are relevant with respect to the individual's candidacy
to serve on a tribunal in this new internal justice system.

Answer: ConGen Hamburg's interlocutors have known Laker for
many years at the professional level. The President of
Hamburg's Administrative Court worked with Laker for over 20
years and the President of the Higher Administrative Court has
known him for 14 years. The contact from the Central Resident
Office has known Laker for about 7 years and has interacted with
him in court on many cases involving foreigner law.


9. (SBU) Question 8: Please provide any views on how the host
nation views other candidates for the UNDT and UNAT positions.
We note to posts that a demarche request for U.S. candidate,
Judge Mark P. Painter, for the UN Appeals Tribunal is being sent
via SEPTEL.

Answer: Fabri-Weiland confirmed that the German Government will
gladly support the candidature of Judge Mark P. Painter to the
UN Appeals Tribunal, at the elections to be held on 02 March

2009. German officials did not share their views on other
candidates.


10. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin.
JOHNSON