The Federal Constitutional Court (, usually abbreviated ) is the federal constitutional court of Germany. It is the highest independent constitutional organ of the German judiciary, ranking equally with the other supreme federal courts, and is – at the same time – the highest federal court in Germany.

, 16 justices serve on the two senates of the court. This article lists the current justices and the former presidents, vice-presidents and all former justices.

Current justices of the Federal Constitutional Court The court is divided into two senates, each with different subject-matter jurisdiction. The court's two senates were originally staffed with twelve justices each. With effect from 1963, the number of justices per senate was reduced to eight.

The eight justices per senate include the president and the vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court, who each preside over one of the court's two senates.

First senate Eight justices currently serve on the first senate of the Federal Constitutional Court. Listed in order of seniority, they are (if the tenure length is identical they are listed in alphabetical order): Justice Position(seat) Tenure(as justice) Tenure length(as justice) Electoral body Proposal 1 Stephan Harbarth(born 1971) PresidentPresiding Justice of the First Senate(1 BT 4.7) –Incumbent Bundestag CDU/CSU 2 (born 1963) Justice(1 BR 2.8) –Incumbent Bundesrat SPD 3 (born 1962) Justice(1 BR 1.6) –Incumbent Bundesrat CDU/CSU 4 (born 1972) Justice(1 BR 4.6) –Incumbent Bundesrat SPD 5 (born 1965) Justice(1 BT 2.8) –Incumbent Bundestag FDP 6 (born 1965) Justice(1 BT 3.7) –Incumbent Bundestag Alliance 90/The Greens 7 (born 1973) Justice(1 BR 3.7) –Incumbent Bundesrat SPD 8 (born 1972) Justice(1 BT 1.9) –Incumbent BundestagCDU/CSU

Second senate Eight justices currently serve on the second senate of the Federal Constitutional Court. Listed in order of seniority, they are (if the tenure length is identical they are listed in alphabetical order): Justice Position(seat) Tenure(as justice) Tenure length(as justice) Electoral body Proposal 1 Ann-Katrin Kaufhold(born 1976) Vice-PresidentPresiding Justice of the Second Senate(2 BT 1.7) –Incumbent Bundestag SPD 2 Christine Langenfeld(born 1958) Justice(2 BR 3.7) –Incumbent Bundesrat CDU/CSU 3 (born 1969) Justice(2 BR 4.8) –Incumbent Bundesrat Alliance 90/The Greens 4 (born 1963) Justice(2 BT 2.6) –Incumbent Bundestag SPD 5 (born 1972) Justice(2 BT 3.7) –Incumbent Bundestag FDP 6 Peter Frank(born 1968) Justice(2 BR 1.8) –Incumbent Bundesrat CDU/CSU 7 (born 1976) Justice(2 BR 2.6) –Incumbent Bundesrat CDU/CSU 8 (born 1976) Justice(2 BT 4.7) –Incumbent Bundestag SPD

Presidents of the Federal Constitutional Court The president of the Federal Constitutional Court is elected alternately by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in accordance with Section 9 of the , and is appointed by the President of Germany in accordance with Section 10 of the .

To date, 10 persons have served as president of the Federal Constitutional Court. In chronological order, they are: President Senate Tenure(as justice) Tenure(as president) Tenure length(as president) Proposal 1 Hermann Höpker-Aschoff(1883–1954) First Senate –15 January 1954(Died) –15 January 1954(Died) FDP 2 Josef Wintrich(1891–1958) First Senate –19 October 1958(Died) –19 October 1958(Died) CDU/CSU 3 Gebhard Müller(1900–1990) First Senate –8 December 1971 –8 December 1971 CDU/CSU 4 Ernst Benda(1925–2009) First Senate –20 December 1983 –20 December 1983 CDU/CSU 5 Wolfgang Zeidler(1924–1987) First Senate(1967–1970)Second Senate(1975–1987) –31 May 1970(First Term)–16 November 1987(Second Term) –16 November 1987 SPD 6 Roman Herzog(1934–2017) First Senate –30 June 1994 –30 June 1994 CDU/CSU 7 Jutta Limbach(1934–2016) Second Senate –10 April 2002 –10 April 2002 SPD 8 Hans-Jürgen Papier(born 1943) First Senate –16 March 2010 –16 March 2010 CDU/CSU 9 Andreas Voßkuhle(born 1963) Second Senate –22 June 2020 –22 June 2020 SPD 10 Stephan Harbarth(born 1971) First Senate –Incumbent –Incumbent CDU/CSU

Vice-presidents of the Federal Constitutional Court The vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court is elected alternately by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in accordance with Section 9 of the , and is appointed by the President of Germany in accordance with Section 10 of the .

To date, 16 persons have served as vice-president of the Federal Constitutional Court. Listed in chronological order, they are: Vice-President Senate Tenure(as justice) Tenure(as vice-president) Tenure length(as vice-president) Proposal 1 Rudolf Katz(1895–1961) Second Senate –23 July 1961(Died) –23 July 1961(Died) SPD 2 (1894–1971) Second Senate –18 October 1967 –18 October 1967 SPD 3 (1907–1989) Second Senate –7 November 1975 –7 November 1975 SPD 4 Wolfgang Zeidler(1924–1987) First Senate(1967–1970)Second Senate(1975–1987) –31 May 1970(First Term)–16 November 1987(Second Term) –20 December 1983 SPD 5 Roman Herzog(1934–2017) First Senate –30 June 1994 –16 November 1987 CDU/CSU 6 (1929–2021) Second Senate –24 March 1994 –24 March 1994 SPD 7 Jutta Limbach(1934–2016) Second Senate –10 April 2002 –14 September 1994 SPD 8 (1931–2007) First Senate –13 October 1995 –13 October 1995 FDP 9 Otto Seidl(1931–2022) First Senate –27 February 1998 –27 February 1998 CDU/CSU 10 Hans-Jürgen Papier(born 1943) First Senate –16 March 2010 –10 April 2002 CDU/CSU 11 Winfried Hassemer(1940–2014) Second Senate –7 May 2008 –7 May 2008 SPD 12 Andreas Voßkuhle(born 1963) Second Senate –22 June 2020 –16 March 2010 SPD 13 Ferdinand Kirchhof(born 1950) First Senate –30 November 2018 –30 November 2018 CDU/CSU 14 Stephan Harbarth(born 1971) First Senate –Incumbent –22 June 2020 CDU/CSU 15 Doris König(born 1957) Second Senate –7 October 2025 –7 October 2025 SPD 16 Ann-Katrin Kaufhold(born 1976) Second Senate –Incumbent –Incumbent SPD

Justices of the Federal Constitutional Court Since the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court in 1951, 121 justices (including presidents and vice-presidents) have served on the court. The shortest tenure on the court lasted only 133 days (), while the longest serving member of the court served for 26 years and 56 days (Willi Geiger).

The court's justices are elected by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, and are appointed by the President of Germany. According to Article 93(2) of the German Basic Law, both legislative bodies elect half of the members of the two senates. The election procedure is contained in Sections 5 and 6 of the . Beginning with the election of in 2017, the justices that are to be elected by the Bundestag are elected by the Bundestag itself and no longer by the election committee () of the Bundestag.

The 121 justices are listed below in chronological order. If the date of their assumption of office – their appointment – is identical, the lower seat number is decisive for the purposes of this list.