Herbert Kronke, a national of Germany, was appointed to the Tribunal in 2012. At the time of his appointment he was Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of Comparative Law, Conflict of Laws and International Business Law at Heidelberg University and Dean of the Faculty of Law.
Herbert Kronke studied law at the Universities of Mainz and Hamburg (Germany) and Edinburgh (United Kingdom). Following the First State Exam (Hamburg, 1976) and practical training (Referendariat) with the Hamburg Court of Appeal he took the Second State Exam and bar exam (Hamburg, 1980). He earned his Dr iur (PhD) (1979) at the University of Munich and a Dr iur habil (post-doc degree) (1987) at the University of Trier. From 1987 to 1993 he held chairs for Private Law, Commercial Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at the Universities of Cologne and Bielefeld and, since 1993, Heidelberg. He is Emeritus Professor since 2016.
From 1998 to 2008 he served as Secretary-General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome.
Herbert Kronke has published widely on the law of contracts, trusts, commercial law, company law, financial markets law, private international law, international civil procedure and arbitration. He has conducted research and taught as visiting professor in Brazil, Canada, China, Greece, Hungary, Italy and the United States of America and at the Hague Academy of International Law. He has extensive experience as an arbitrator, mostly sitting as chairman of arbitral tribunals, mainly in commercial and occasionally in investment arbitrations.
Herbert Kronke is a member of the Académie Internationale de Droit Comparé/International Academy of Comparative Law and the Academia Europaea. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and the International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki.
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany conferred the honour of the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit upon him, and he was awarded the Ordem do Rio Branco by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
