bidt Director Professor Dirk Heckmann re-elected as constitutional judge

The Bavarian Constitutional Court monitors the protection of fundamental rights and the constitutional functioning of the state organs. Any citizen can bring an action before the Constitutional Court. On 25 January 2024, the Bavarian State Parliament elected the non-professional members of the institution for the current legislative period. Among them is constitutional law expert Dirk Heckmann, university professor at the Technical University of Munich since 2019 and part of the nine-member board of directors at the bidt.
Heckmann was delighted to be re-elected:

It is a particular honour for me to be able to continue to contribute my expertise in constitutional disputes. Today, digitalisation and the rule of law are more interlinked than ever: The risks of deepfakes, disinformation and threats to democracy, but also the opportunities of ground-breaking AI innovations, must be explored for the benefit of all. For me, my activities as a constitutional court judge and researcher into interdisciplinary digitalisation issues go hand in hand.

Prof. Dr. Dirk Heckmann To the profile

For many years, Professor Heckmann has been committed to the protection of fundamental rights, particularly on the internet, as well as to strengthening the democratic rule of law. His interdisciplinary research focuses on the law of digitalisation, digital education, digital administration and digitalisation in healthcare. At bidt, his projects include copyright and privacy protection in digital contexts, the constitutional limits of state internet surveillance and the use of generative AI at universities. Dirk Heckmann was first appointed as a part-time constitutional judge in 2003 and has since been re-elected four times.

Event notice: For..Net Symposium on 18/19 April 2024

The 18th For..Net Symposium on 18 and 19 April in the Börsensaal of the IHK Oberbayern in Munich will also deal with legal aspects of digitalisation. Under the title “Truth – Power – Rule of Law”, renowned experts will discuss generative AI in the context of law, technology and society. The event is a cooperation between the TUM Center for Digital Public Services (CDPS) and the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt). Representatives of the press are cordially invited.

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