The President and the Vice-President

The President is responsible for supervising the judges as administrative issues are concerned and is chief of the court´s staff including civil servants and employees working for the Federal Fiscal Court.

In his judicial role, the President presides over a senate. By law, he is Chairman of the Grand Senate of the Federal Fiscal Court. The President is also a member of the Joint Senate of the Federal Supreme Courts.

Also by law, the President chairs the Presidium of the Federal Fiscal Court. The Presidium is an independent central body of judicial self-administration. It is primarily responsible for the distribution of official duties among the judges.

Finally, the President chairs the Presidential Council, a representative body for participation in the appointment or election of judges.

Curriculum vitae of the President of the Federal Fiscal Court

Dr. Hans-Josef Thesling

Dr. Thesling started his professional career working for a law firm for almost a year and then became at the end of 1989 a civil servant in the senior service at the Inland Revenue of North Rhine Westphalia. At first he worked with the tax office at Erkelenz. As of mid 1991 he served as head of department for tax audits at the tax office in Bergheim.  

Dr. Thesling served as a judge at the fiscal court of Düsseldorf until August 2005. During this period he was for a one and a half year seconded to the State Chancelery of North Rhine Westphalia.

After leaving the Fiscal Court and serving 11 years as a head of department for the administration of the state parliament of North Rhine Westphalia Dr. Thesling returned as president to the fiscal court of Düsseldorf in September 2016.

From December 2018 and until his appointment as president of the Federal Fiscal Court he headed the department for Human Ressources and Law at the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine Westphalia.

The Vice-President is the permanent representative of the President. He or she supports the President with respect to administrative issues oft he court. Like the President, the Vice-President is a judge and chairs a senate.

Curriculum vitae of the Vice President of the German Federal Tax Court

Meinhard Wittwer

Meinhard Wittwer began his professional career in the Inland Revenue Service  of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Subsequently, he studied law at the Ruhr University in Bochum. After completing his legal clerkship in 1993, he worked at the administrative courts before being transferred to the Münster Finance Court in 1998. He was a member of that court - interrupted by an almost four-year secondment to the German Federal Tax Court as a research assistant- until his appointment as a judge at the German Federal Tax Court in October 2006.

At the German Federal Tax Court, Mr. Wittwer was assigned to the IV Senate. With his appointment as presiding judge in November 2018, he moved to the VI Senate. In addition to his position as a presiding judge Mr.  Wittwer has been entrusted since 2018 with the managment of the project "Introduction of the electronic court file at the German Federal Tax Court".