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Lewisch, Peter --- "Franz Klein (1854–1926)" [2005] ELECD 168; in Backhaus, G. Jürgen (ed), "The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics, Second Edition" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005)

Book Title: The Elgar Companion to Law and Economics, Second Edition

Editor(s): Backhaus, G. Jürgen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420321

Section: Chapter 44

Section Title: Franz Klein (1854–1926)

Author(s): Lewisch, Peter

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

44 Franz Klein (1854­1926)
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
Geistesströmungen im Prozesse, see Klein, 1958) as `the most influential
modern civil procedural 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 unsuccessfully, leading a political party in Austria's 1919 general
elections. Since historical details regarding the personality of Franz Klein are
well documented in the literature (see in particular the contributions in Franz
Klein Forschungsband, Hofmeister, 1988), 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.

II
Klein was `Viennese' throughout his life. Born in Vienna, as the son of an
artisan, he enrolled in law at the University of Vienna (1872­76), 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, Klein was made an
associate professor of civil procedural law at the University of Vienna; in the
same year his venia ...