Peter Häberle
Encyclopedia
Peter Häberle is a German legal scholar, specialising in constitutional law.
Häberle studied law
in Tübingen
, Bonn
, Freiburg im Breisgau and Montpellier
. In 1961 he received his juris doctor
under supervision of Konrad Hesse
at the faculty of law, University of Freiburg
. His thesis, titled "Die Wesensgehaltgarantie des Art. 19 Abs. 2 Grundgesetz", became both influential and controversial.
In 1970 Häberle attained his habilitation
in Freiburg im Breisgau with a work on "Öffentliches Interesse als juristisches Problem" (i.e., Public interest as a legal problem). After deputizing as professor in Tübingen
he became a professor
of law
in Marburg
himself. Later he moved to the Universities of Augsburg
and Bayreuth
. He briefly served as visitant professor at the University of St. Gallen
(1982-1999).
Häberle's works have been translated into 18 languages. He was honored by an international Festschrift
for his 70th birthday.
Much like his academic teacher Konrad Hesse
, Häberle stands in the tradition of the Rudolf Smend
school of thought. He has publicly acknowledged this fact in a lot of his works.
In 1994 Peter Häberle received the honorary doctorate of the faculty of law of the Aristoteles-University Thessaloniki
, in 2000, 2003 and 2007 from the respective faculties in Granada, the Catholic University of Lima
and the University of Lisbon. In 2005 the University of Brasilia awarded him with an honorary doctorate. Further honors have been amongst other: the "Great officer of the Republic of Italia"-order, the medals of honor of the Constitutional courts in Rome and Lima, the German and the Bavarian cross of merit.
Peter Häberle supervised the dissertation of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
. Guttenberg's dissertation was later shown to contain copies of texts from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung
, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
, a speech by his predecessor as defense minister, and many other sources, including his supervisor, Häberle himself. The dissertation was awarded a "summa cum laude". However, the PhD degree was revoked in February 2011 for extensive violations of regulations concerning the citation of sources. First, Häberle defended the thesis of Guttenberg, whom he considered "one of his best students", against accusations of plagiarism
, calling them "absurd". However, he later said that his first spontaneous reaction had been "too rash" and that he hadn't been aware of the extent of the flaws in Guttenberg's dissertation. Häberle said that these flaws were "severe" and "not acceptable".
Biography
Häberle's the son of Hugo Häberle, a medical doctor, and Ursula Häberle (née Riebensahm).Häberle studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, Freiburg im Breisgau and Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
. In 1961 he received his juris doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
under supervision of Konrad Hesse
Konrad Hesse
Konrad Hesse was a German jurisprudence scientist and, from 1975 to 1987, judge at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany....
at the faculty of law, University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
. His thesis, titled "Die Wesensgehaltgarantie des Art. 19 Abs. 2 Grundgesetz", became both influential and controversial.
In 1970 Häberle attained his habilitation
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
in Freiburg im Breisgau with a work on "Öffentliches Interesse als juristisches Problem" (i.e., Public interest as a legal problem). After deputizing as professor in Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
he became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
himself. Later he moved to the Universities of Augsburg
University of Augsburg
The University of Augsburg is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 7 Faculties....
and Bayreuth
University of Bayreuth
The University of Bayreuth is a public research university situated in Bayreuth, Germany. It was founded in 1975 as a campus university focusing on international collaboration and interdisciplinarity...
. He briefly served as visitant professor at the University of St. Gallen
University of St. Gallen
The University of St. Gallen is a public research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It is specialized in the fields of business administration, economics, law, and international affairs. The University of St. Gallen is also known as HSG, which is an abbreviation of its former German...
(1982-1999).
Häberle's works have been translated into 18 languages. He was honored by an international Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
for his 70th birthday.
Much like his academic teacher Konrad Hesse
Konrad Hesse
Konrad Hesse was a German jurisprudence scientist and, from 1975 to 1987, judge at the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany....
, Häberle stands in the tradition of the Rudolf Smend
Rudolf Smend
Rudolf Smend was a German theologian who was born in Lengerich, Westphalia. He was an older brother to theologian Julius Smend , and the father of Carl Friedrich Rudolf Smend , an authority on constitutional and ecclesiastical law.He studied theology at the Universities of Göttingen, Berlin and...
school of thought. He has publicly acknowledged this fact in a lot of his works.
In 1994 Peter Häberle received the honorary doctorate of the faculty of law of the Aristoteles-University Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, in 2000, 2003 and 2007 from the respective faculties in Granada, the Catholic University of Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
and the University of Lisbon. In 2005 the University of Brasilia awarded him with an honorary doctorate. Further honors have been amongst other: the "Great officer of the Republic of Italia"-order, the medals of honor of the Constitutional courts in Rome and Lima, the German and the Bavarian cross of merit.
Peter Häberle supervised the dissertation of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg is a German politician of the Christian Social Union ....
. Guttenberg's dissertation was later shown to contain copies of texts from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung is a major German language Swiss daily newspaper based in Zurich.One of the oldest newspapers still published, it originally appeared as Zürcher Zeitung, edited by Salomon Gessner, from January 12, 1780, and was renamed to Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 1821...
, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
, a speech by his predecessor as defense minister, and many other sources, including his supervisor, Häberle himself. The dissertation was awarded a "summa cum laude". However, the PhD degree was revoked in February 2011 for extensive violations of regulations concerning the citation of sources. First, Häberle defended the thesis of Guttenberg, whom he considered "one of his best students", against accusations of plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
, calling them "absurd". However, he later said that his first spontaneous reaction had been "too rash" and that he hadn't been aware of the extent of the flaws in Guttenberg's dissertation. Häberle said that these flaws were "severe" and "not acceptable".
Selected Publications
- Grundrechte im Leistungsstaat, (English: Fundamental rights in a state of benefits) in: Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung Deutscher Staatsrechtslehrer (VVDStRL) vol. 30 (1972), pp. 43
- Die offene Gesellschaft der Verfassungsinterpreten, in: Juristenzeitung (JZ) 1975, pp. 297.
- Klassikertexte im Verfassungsleben, 1981
- "Die Wesensgehaltsgarantie des Art. 19 Abs. 2 Grundgesetz – Zugleich ein Beitrag zum institutionellen Verständnis der Grundrechte und zur Lehre des Gesetzesvorbehalts" 3rd ed., Heidelberg 1983
- Die Gemeinwohlproblematik in rechtswissenschaftlicher Sicht, in: South African Yearbook of International Law, Volume 9, 1983, pp. 53 – 77
- Current problems of German Federalism in: University of Rome II, Department of Public Law, Yearbook (1990 - 1991), p. 79 – 119
- Constitutional developments in Eastern Europe in: Law and State, Institute for Scientific Cooperation, Tübingen (ed.), Vol. 46 (1992), S. 64 - 90
- "Rechtsvergleichung im Kraftfeld des Verfassungsstaates - Methoden und Inhalte, Kleinstaaten und Entwicklungsländer", 1992
- "Europäische Rechtskultur", 1994
- "Wahrheitsprobleme im Verfassungsstaat", 1995
- "Verfassungslehre als Kulturwissenschaft", Duncker und Humblot, 2nd edition, largely extended, (1998), 1188 pages; it was partially translated into Spanish ("Teoría de la Constitutión como ciencia de la cultura", 2000), Italian ("Per una dottrina della costituzione come scienza della cultura", 2001) and Japanese (in: Kobe Law Journal, Vol. 50, No. 4, March 2001)
- "Verfassung als öffentlicher Prozeß", Duncker und Humblot, SöR vol. 353, 3rd ed. Berlin 1998
- "Gibt es eine europäische Öffentlichkeit?", 2000
- "L'Etat Constitutionnel", Paris, 2004
- "Nueve Ensayos Constitucionales y una Lección Jubilar", Lima, 2004; und Mexiko, UNAM, 2004, available through UNAM, http://www.bibliojuridica.org/libros/libro.htm?l=2223
- "Europäische Verfassungslehre", Baden-Baden, Nomos, 2005, 3rd, revised and extended edition
- "Das Menschenbild im Verfassungsstaat" , Berlin, Duncker und Humblot, 2005, 3rd extended edition
- "El federalismo y el regionalismo como forma estructural del Estado", Mexiko, UNAM, 2006, translated by J. Brage Camazano and available at http://www.bibliojuridica.org/libros/libro.htm?l=2300
Further reading
- Martin Morlok: Peter Häberle zum 70. Geburtstag, in: Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts, volume 129 (2004), pp. 327 ff.
- Alexander Blankenagel/Ingolf Pernice/Helmuth Schulze-Fielitz: Verfassung im Diskurs der Welt, Liber Amicorum für Peter Häberle zum siebzigsten Geburtstag, Tübingen 2004
- Francisco Balaguer Callejón (editor): Derecho Constitucional y Cultura, Estudios en Homenaje a Peter Häberle (int. Festschrift), Madrid 2004
- Joaquín Brage Camazano, "Nota liminar", P. Häberle, NUEVE ENSAYOS CONSTITUCIONALES Y UNA LECCIÓN JUBILARhttp://www.bibliojuridica.org/libros/5/2223/3.pdf