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? HAMBURG 00000005 002.2 OF 002 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