VZCZCXRO3308
PP RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAG #0005/01 0571336
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261336Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL HAMBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0260
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0236
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0003
RUEHAG/AMCONSUL HAMBURG 0294

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