Prof. Dr. Michael Sauthoff grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, where he studied law and economics. From 1981 he worked at the Administrative Court in Oldenburg, interrupted by a 9-month secondment to the district of Oldenburg. In 1990-1991, he participated in the drafting of the Federal Ministry of Justice’s statement on the law of the GDR, which continues to apply. Subsequently, he was head of department at the Ministry of Justice of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in 1992 he was appointed judge at the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) of Greifswald as well as judge at the Finance Court (FG) in his second main office. From 2001 to 2003, he was again seconded to the Ministry of Justice as Head of the Public Law Unit. In 2003 he was appointed Vice-President of the OVG and in 2014 he was appointed President of the OVG and President of the FG in the other main office.

He has been retired since the end of September 2019. Since 1993, Prof. Dr. Michael Sauthoff has held teaching positions at the University of Greifswald. He received his doctorate there in 2011 with the thesis “Public Roads, Road Law – Road Traffic Law – Road Safety Obligations”. In 2012, he was appointed honorary professor by the University of Greifswald.Prof. Dr. Michael Sauthoff is founding editor and co-editor of the Journal of Public Law in Northern Germany (NordÖR).