Biography

Esther Happacher studied Italian Law and Translation (Italian/French) at the University of Innsbruck. From 1991 to 1998, she worked for the government of South Tyrol in the field of European Affairs. In 1998, she took up a research position in Italian Constitutional Law and the Law of the Autonomy of South Tyrol at the Institute for Public Law, Financial Law and Political Science at the University of Innsbruck. In 2010, she obtained the habilitation in Italian Constitutional Law with special consideration of the South Tyrolean Autonomy and was appointed Associate Professor. Since June 2017, she has been a Full Professor at the Institute for Italian Law. Among other roles, she is co-editor of the series Grenz-Räume (Nomos Verlag), member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Journal of Minority Studies/Europäisches Journal für Minderheitenfragen – EJM, member (president since 2019) of the Euroregional Association for Comparative Public Law and European Law/Associazione Euroregionale di Diritto Pubblico comparato ed Europeo, member of the research group Autonomy Speciali Alpine and, since 2024, member of the Commission for the Definition of German Legal Terminology in South Tyrol.

From 2016 to 2017, she was member of the South Tyrolean Autonomy Convention as a legal expert elected by the Provincial Council of South Tyrol,from 2020 to 2022, she was a member of the Commission pursuant to Art. 107 of the Special Statute for the Autonomous Region of Trentino-South Tyrol, nominated by the Italian Government. Since 2021, she is co-chair of the Permanent Study Group XXIII Administration, Diversity and Equal Treatment of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA) / International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS).

Since 2009, she has been a member of the Working Group on Equal Treatment Issues at the University of Innsbruck (deputy chair since 2014) and, since 2010, has served as Coordinator for Italian Law.

Main Research Areas

• Italian Constitutional Law and Regional Law
• South Tyrolean Autonomy in the context of the Law of the European Union
• Comparative Public Law
• Equal Treatment and Diversity

Recent publications (selection)

• Happacher, Esther; Zwilling, Carolin; Bußjäger, Peter; Obwexer, Walter; Parolari, Sara (eds.) (2025): Digitalisierung und regionale Autonomie | Digitalizzazione e autonomia regionale. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag (= Grenz-Räume). ISBN 978-3-7560-3037-8 . (DOI) (Weblink)

• Happacher, Esther, (2024), Digitalisierung als grenzüberschreitende Herausforderung in der Euregio Tirol-Südtirol-Trentino. In: Happacher/Zwilling/Bußjäger/Obwexer/Parolari (eds.), Digitalisierung und regionale Autonomie | Digitalizzazione e autonomia regionale. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag (= Grenz-Räume). PP.283-294. (DOI) (Weblink).

• Happacher, Esther (2025), Einführung in das Italienische Verfassungsrecht, 3rd, revised edition, Innsbruck: Studia Verlag

• Happacher, Esther (2024), Note in margine a un progetto di riforma dello Statuto speciale per il Trentino Alto Adige/Südtirol. In: federalismi.it. Rivista di Diritto Pubblico Italiano, Comparato, Europeo 2024/15, pp. 237 - 246. (Weblink)

• Casonato, Carlo; Happacher, Esther; Rossi, Emanuele; Toniatti, Roberto (2024): Lineamenti di diritto costituzionale della Regione autonoma Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol e delle province autonome di Trento e di Bolzano/Südtirol . Turin: G. Giappichelli Editore. ISBN 9791221106695 . (Weblink)

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Recent Presentations

• I minori nel sistema costituzionale.
  Minori, diritto e società: la costruzione di nuovi paradigmi per la tutela dei minori, Roma, 28.05.2025 (Online). (Weblink)

• Sistema tavolare e autonomia speciale: l'esperienza del Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol.
  Il sistema tavolare. Percorsi transfrontalieri tra continuità e prospettive, Gorizia, 24.05.2025. (Weblink)

• Ist Klimaschutz verfassungsrechtlich geschützt und welche autonomierechtlichen Fragen tun sich auf? Verfassungs- und autonomierechtliche Aspekte von Klimaklagen.
  Klimaklagen und Klimagerechtigkeit in Zeiten des Klimawandels, Bolzano, 14 February 2025. (Weblink)

• La ratio del principio di leale cooperazione negli ordinamenti europei - Austria.
  Il principio di leale cooperazione negli ordinamenti composti, Trento / Trento, 16.12.2024. Il principio di leale cooperazione negli ordinamenti composti | UniTrentoMag

• L'Autonomia nel prisma delle relazioni transfrontaliere. Lectio magistralis in occasione della Giornata dell'Autonomia della Provincia autonoma di Trento.
  Autonomous Province of Trento, Trento, 05.09.2024. (Weblink)

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Teaching (winter term 2025/2026)

• VO Introduction to Public Law
• VO Constitutional Law I
• VO Constitutional Law II: Autonomy of South Tyrol
• VU Aspects of Applied Constitutional Law
• UE Constitutional Law (for beginners)