Georg Kodek, chair of WU’s Department of Private Law and head of the Institute for Civil Law and Civil Procedure II, has been selected to become the new president of the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice. Georg Kodek currently serves as panel president at the Supreme Court. As Supreme Court president, he will replace Elisabeth Lovrek, who will retire in January. The Supreme Court staffing panel included Kodek as the first-ranked candidate in its shortlist for the position, and Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Greens) followed this suggestion. Kodek will be officially appointed by the Austrian federal president.
Georg Kodek, aged 60, has been a Supreme Court justice since 2006. Before that, he served as a judge at several courts, including a Vienna district court, the Eisenstadt regional court, and the Vienna Higher Regional Court. In 2001, he obtained his venia docendi from the University of Vienna in the field of civil procedural law. He was appointed full professor at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) in 2007.

Georg Kodek is one of several WU professors who hold senior positions at the country’s three highest courts. Four WU professors serve as members of the Austrian Constitutional Court: Christoph Grabenwarter as president, Verena Madner as vice-president, and Michael Holoubek and Georg Lienbacher as constitutional judges. Hans Peter Lehofer, chamber president at the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, also works at WU as an external lecturer.

On behalf of WU, we would like to congratulate Prof. Kodek on his appointment.