„Let’s Talk About Law“ – The interactive discussion series in Leipzig: Law and Emotions – From a Sense of Justice to the Protection of Feelings

The next installment of the interactive discussion series „Let’s Talk About Law“ will take place on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m., at the Leipzig office of the Forum Recht Foundation. This time, the topic will be the connection between law and emotions. The guest speaker is Dr. Sandra Schnädelbach by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and Prof. Dr. Johannes Eichenhofer, Professor of Public Law at the University of Leipzig.

For a long time, law and emotions were considered incompatible. Legal practitioners claimed to act exclusively on the basis of reason, and the law was regarded as rational. For some time now, this purported dichotomy between law and emotions has been called into question, and the interplay between the two is being examined. Together with our guests, we would like to shed light on the role emotions play in the law.

We ask ourselves: What role do emotions play in the creation and application of law? What do we mean by „sense of justice“? When have judges recognized, deemed important, or rejected emotionality—and in what form? And where might it be necessary right now to foster societal acceptance of decisions? Finally, we would like to discuss: In what ways does our law already address emotions—recognizing and protecting them, or even protecting against them?

Guests

Dr. Sandra Schnädelbach studied history, theater, film, and television studies, and German language and literature in Cologne and Rome. In her dissertation „Decisive Emotions: The Sense of Justice and Legal Emotionality from the German Empire to the Weimar Republic,“ she examined the legal culture of the early 20th century and analyzed the significance of emotions in theories and practices of judgment. After working at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and at the University of Strasbourg, she was a Gisela Eisenreich Fellow at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. From 2012 to 2026, she worked as an editor and served as the managing editor of *Philosophie Magazin*; she currently works at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Photo: Private

Prof. Dr. Johannes Eichenhofer is a professor of public law at the University of Leipzig. His research focuses on public law issues related to digitalization, migration and integration law, and security law. He also studies the relationship between law and emotions.

Photo: Nils Bornemann

Moderated by

This year, the journalist and host will be hosting the Leipzig editions of „Let’s Talk About Law“ Susann Böttcher. She is a host on news radio, for podcasts, and on stage. A law graduate, she covers a wide range of topics—from politics and health to business and sports. She can be heard regularly on the Bundesliga program and on the ARD discussion show „Mitreden! Deutschland diskutiert.“ Most recently, she hosted the ARD Olympic Evening.

Photo: Falko Simon

About the Event Series

Since 2025, the Forum Recht Foundation has been regularly hosting the „Let’s Talk About Recht“ discussion series at its venues in Karlsruhe and Leipzig. The guests are prominent figures from various fields of law who discuss their day-to-day work and share their perspectives on current legal topics—ranging from labor law and tenancy law to freedom of speech. The discussions are recorded and subsequently released as a live-on-tape podcast.

Learn more about the event series here.

You can listen to the conversation on the Live-On-Tape podcast here, two weeks after the event. All previous conversations are already online! 

Listen to the interview about the series on Schwarzwaldradio from May 5, 2026, featuring Sina Ness, a research associate at the Forum Recht Foundation!

Service

Admission is free of charge. Registration is not required.

Please note our Accessibility information for the event venues. 

Doors open 20 minutes before the show starts.