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Obituary Prof. Kühne
Prof. Dr. Gunter Kühne, former director of the Institute of German and International Mining and Energy Law, has passed away
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Prof. Dr. jur. Gunther Kühne, LL.M., Director of the Institute for German and International Mining and Energy Law at Clausthal University of Technology from 1978 to 2007, at the age of 86.
After studying law and completing his legal clerkship, Prof. Kühne initially worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Civil Law, Private International Law, Comparative Law, Commercial and Economic Law at Ruhr University Bochum, where he obtained his doctorate in 1970 with a thesis on “Die Parteiautonomie im Internationalen Erbrecht“ (Party Autonomy in International Succession Law). He then completed a master's degree at Columbia University, New York City. In the sequel he worked at the Federal Ministry of Economics (1971-1974) and the Federal Ministry of Justice (1974-1978). In 1978, Clausthal University of Technology appointed him to a professorship in mining and energy law and as director of the Institute of German and International Mining and Energy Law. In 1986, he was also appointed honorary professor at Georg August University in Göttingen (civil law, mining and energy law). Since 1988, he has been a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Section on Energy and Natural Resources Law within the International Bar Association. In 1994, he became a full member of the Braunschweig Scientific Society and a member of its Law and Technology Commission. He has been visiting professor at TU Bergakademie Freiberg (1992), Tel Aviv University, Israel (1993-2003 on a two-year cycle), and Nanjing University, PR China (2004, 2007). He retired with the date of October 1, 2007.
Prof. Kühne made highly regarded contributions to mining law and was one of Germany's leading experts in this field. His work focused in particular on mining rights law, the operating plan procedure, and property protection. From 2000 to 2004, he advised the Macedonian government on the reform of Macedonian mining law. He was co-editor and co-author of the commentary on the Federal Mining Act, founded by Boldt/Weller, which was published in its second edition in 2016 and its third edition in 2023. Since the late 1980s, he has also been increasingly involved in energy law issues, in particular concession agreements, nuclear law, energy regulation, and energy supply contracts. His considerations on the unconstitutionality of the ban on the introduction of new concession fees were reflected in the case law of the Federal Administrative Court. In addition to general civil and commercial law issues, he was particularly interested in private international law. After completing his dissertation and drafting a bill to reform German private international law and procedural law between 1977 and 1979, the main features of which were incorporated into the 1986 Act on the Reform of Private International Law, he continued to pursue this area of interest.
Prof. Kühne always stayed in contact with legal practice. In addition to his work as an expert witness, he had been involved in German and international arbitration proceedings since 2006, in some cases also as chairman.
Prof. Kühne remained closely associated with the Institute for German and International Mining and Energy Law throughout his life and worked at the institute almost daily until the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. For the members of the institute, interacting with Prof. Kühne, whether in doctoral seminars or at joint celebrations at the institute, was always a pleasure. We will profoundly miss him.
