Political Figures
Hans Kelsen
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
Austrian and later American legal philosopher who developed the pure theory of law, an account of legal systems as self contained hierarchies of norms independent of morality or politics. He wrote the 1920 Austrian constitution and served as a judge on the Austrian Constitutional Court from 1920 to 1930, the first dedicated tribunal of its kind, built to concentrate judicial review in one specialised body rather than leave it, as in the United States, to ordinary courts. He emigrated to the United States in 1940 after the Nazi annexation of Austria and taught at Harvard and Berkeley until his death in 1973.
Facts
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names United States directly: "body rather than leave it, as in the United States, to ordinary courts."
Founded
Kelsen was the principal drafter of Austria's 1920 constitution and designed its centralised constitutional court, a model of judicial review by one specialised tribunal rather than by ordinary courts, later adopted by Germany, Italy, Spain and many other states as the Kelsenian model.
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.