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Lewisch, Peter --- "Franz Klein (1854-1926)" [1999] ELECD 40; in Backhaus, G. Jürgen (ed), "The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics

Editor(s): Backhaus, G. Jürgen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781858985169

Section: Chapter 33

Section Title: Franz Klein (1854-1926)

Author(s): Lewisch, Peter

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

33 Franz Klein (1854-1926)
Peter Lewisch


I
Franz Klein, Viennese law professor and Austrian Minister of Justice, is
best known as the drafter of the Austrian Civil Procedural Code (ZPO), a
codification that has been praised (by Wolf, epilogue to Zeit- und
Geistesstromungen im Prozesse) as `the most influential modern civil pro-
cedural codification altogether'. Apart from his rich legal work, both doctrinal
and legislative, Klein also engaged in politics towards the end of his life,
participating in the St Germain peace negotiations and, however unsuccess-
fully, leading a political party in Austria's 1919 general elections. Since
historical details regarding the personality of Franz Klein are well docu-
mented in the literature (see in particular the contributions in Forschungsband
Franz Klein), this survey concentrates on those aspects of his legal work
that are of interest from a law and economics perspective, most notably his
reform of the Austrian civil procedure.

I1
Franz Klein was `Viennese' throughout his life. Born in Vienna, as the son of
an artisan, he enrolled in law at the University of Vienna (1872-6), achieved
his PhD (`Habilitation') in Civil Procedural Law (thesis: `Die schuldhafte
Parteihandlung - Eine Untersuchung aus dem Civilprocessrechte' , published
1885) in 1883, and subsequently assumed a position in the university admin-
istration (`Kanzleidirektor' ). This - in itself quite uninteresting - position
granted him enough leisure for scientific work. In 1891, Franz Klein was
made an associate professor of civil procedural law at the University of
Vienna; in the same year his venia legendi ...