Peter Leisching

Peter Leisching (born October 8, 1933 in Vienna ; † January 12, 1999 ibid) was an Austrian canon lawyer and full professor of canon law at the Faculty of Law at the Leopold-Franzens University in Innsbruck .

Life

Born and raised in Vienna in 1933 as the son of an architect, Peter Leisching also studied law there in the 1940s and 1950s. He was particularly interested in canonical studies, which was reflected in his position as an assistant at the Vienna Institute for Canon Law (1955–1958). After receiving his doctorate in 1957, Leisching went to Rome in 1961 as a scholarship holder of the Austrian Cultural Institute for research at the Vatican Archives. At the suggestion of his academic teacher Willibald Plöchl , the old master of canonical studies in Austria, he turned to the research topic "Bishops' Conference" with special consideration of developments in Austria, processing the holdings of the Vienna Archbishop's Archive, the Vatican Archive and the files of the Vienna Nunciare Archive. After joining the Austrian Federal Monuments Office in 1962, Leisching became a legal adviser in 1964 with the work The Bishops' Conference , published the year before . Contribution to her legal history with special consideration of her development in Austria for the subject of ecclesiastical legal history at the law and political science faculty of the University of Vienna . The habilitation thesis was awarded the Cardinal Innitzer Prize .

In 1967 he was appointed full professor for canon law at the law faculty of the University of Innsbruck, where Leisching worked until his death in 1999. At the same time, he was chairman of the Institute for Canon Law and Legal Philosophy, and in 1972/73, 1973/74 and 1977/78 also dean of the law faculty. As dean, Leisching established the introductory contacts to the professors of the Faculty of Law in Padua and thus initiated the study of Italian law planned for South Tyrolean students at the University of Innsbruck. For many years, Leisching was the Senate Commissioner for the partnership agreement with the Maria Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin, and since the beginning has also been a member of the Senate Commission for Interpersonal Communication.

Until his death, Leisching held lectures in canon law , state church law , legal philosophy and European legal development (canonical tradition). He was also a long-term lecturer for the Faculty of Architecture and Construction in Innsbruck.

Leisching died unexpectedly on January 12, 1999 at the age of 66. The Institute for Canon Law was dissolved upon his death.

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Leisching's academic work applies above all to his area of ​​expertise, canon law and ecclesiastical legal history. Leisching continued the topic of the Bishops' Conference , which was included in his habilitation thesis, in various contributions, as well as treatises on the ecclesiastical code that came into force in 1983 .

Particular interest was given to the Consuetudo and Ratio, especially the legal doctrine of St. Augustine in the work of Isidore of Seville, in the decree and the Panormia of Bishop Ivo of Chartres and in Tertullian.

Early on, Leisching was interested in state church law. Here he turned primarily to questions of legal history relating to the relationship between state and church in Austria, but also to current issues. Particularly noteworthy is his probably last contribution, The Relationship between State and Church in the Republic of Austria , which appeared in the second edition of the Handbook of Catholic Canon Law only after his death. In addition, at the beginning of the early 1970s, Leisching highlighted the differences between the state church law systems in Europe in a comparative presentation.

At the university lecture series “Law and Europe”, which was inspired by his research and initiated and supervised at the Center for European Law at the Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck. He was no longer able to participate in a lecture series by members and guests of the Innsbruck Law Faculty.

Leisching's scientific work is also characterized by its versatility. His interest in history, philosophy, literature and the fine arts allowed him to see and understand legal phenomena in a larger cultural context. His contact with the preservation of monuments and his involvement in this regard, as well as his preoccupation with literature as well as his active participation in literary associations are reflected in numerous contributions. Leisching was President of the Vienna Bibliophile Society and the Austrian PEN Club , the Austrian Writers' Association , the Morgen-Kreis and the Grillparzer Society . In addition, there are articles in lexicons, in the concise dictionary on German legal history, in the state lexicon of the Görres Society up to the third edition of the Lexicon for Theology and Church . Last but not least, Leisching dealt in detail with Ernst Freiherr Moy de Sons , the founder of the Archive for Canon Law. A commemorative publication was dedicated to Leisching on his 60th birthday in recognition of his scientific work.

Literature (selection)

• From the time of the rise of Austrian canon law . In: Festschrift for Nikolas Grass on his 70th birthday . Edited by Kurt Ebert, Innsbruck 1986, 303-316.
• Contributions to the history of medieval marriage law . Innsbruck 1978.
• The new code of law of the Catholic Church: the Codex Iuris Canonici 1983 . Lecture given to the Lower Austrian Legal Society on September 29, 1983 in Göttweig, St. Pölten 1984.
• The relationship between state and church in the Republic of Austria . In: Hdb KathKR ² , 1294-1308.
• The appointment of canonists to the Innsbruck Law Faculty from 1848–1908 . In: Tiroler Heimat 48/49 (1984/85), 123-139.
• The Episcopal Conference. Contributions to their legal history, with special consideration of their development in Austria (Wiener Rechtsgeschichtlichearbeiten Vol. VII). Vienna-Munich 1963.
• Church and State in the Legal Orders of Europe: An Overview . Freiburg i.Br. 1973.
• Peter Leisching on his 60th birthday . Edited by Herbert Kolb and Richard Platz, Vienna 1992.
• Contract - robbery - partnership: marriage yesterday this morning , Munich 1971.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ebert, Kurt., Grass, Nikolaus .: Festschrift Nikolaus Grass: for his 70th birthday presented by colleagues and others. Friends . Univ.-Verl. Wagner, Innsbruck 1986, ISBN 3-7030-0175-5 .