[1] After studying law at the University of Zurich, Helen Keller was an assistant at the chairs of Alfred Kölz and Heribert Rausch.

At the latter, she completed her doctorate in 1993 with a dissertation on environmental constitutional law, for which she was awarded the Professor Walther Hug Prize.

During her time as senior assistant at the University of Zurich (1996–2002) she wrote her habilitation thesis (“Reception of International Law”) and was the project manager of a multi-volume commentary on the Environmental Protection Act.

In 2005 Helen Keller was elected by the UN General Assembly to succeed Walter Kälin on the United Nations Human Rights Committee (re-elected in 2010).

In 2011 Keller was appointed for a 9-year term as judge of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Switzerland.