Christine Kaufmann was born in Zurich. After graduating from high school (Type A), she studied law at the University of Zurich and graduated in 1987 with a licentiate. From 1987 to 1991 she worked as an assistant to Professor Daniel Thürer, at the chair for international and European law as well as constitutional and administrative law. In 1990 the doctorate (summa cum laude) was based on the dissertation on the topic “Hunger as a legal problem – international law aspects of a right to food”

On October 1, 2002, she was appointed assistant professor and on September 1, 2003, she was appointed full professor of constitutional, administrative and international law at the University of Zurich. From 2012 to 2014 Christine Kaufmann was Vice Dean of Teaching, from 2014 to 2016 she was Dean of the Faculty of Law.