Wolfgang Brandstetter is an independent Austrian politician and legal scholar who served as a member of the Constitutional Court of Austria from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Justice of Austria, as well as the country's Vice Chancellor.[1][2]
Wolfgang Brandstetter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Constitutional Court | |
| In office 27 February 2018 – 7 June 2021 | |
| Appointed by | Federal Government |
| Vice-Chancellor of Austria | |
| In office 17 May 2017 – 18 December 2017 | |
| Chancellor | Christian Kern |
| Preceded by | Reinhold Mitterlehner |
| Succeeded by | Heinz-Christian Strache |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 16 December 2013 – 18 December 2017 | |
| Chancellor | Werner Faymann Christian Kern |
| Preceded by | Beatrix Karl |
| Succeeded by | Josef Moser |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 October 1957 Haag, Austria |
| Political party | Independent |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Vienna |
Career
editIn 2007 Brandstetter became director of the Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.[3]
Brandstetter was chosen to be a member of the Werner Faymann cabinet in December 2013, designated to serve as the country's Minister of Justice. He later succeeded Reinhold Mitterlehner in becoming the Vice-Chancellor of Austria in May 2017.[4][circular reference]
Brandtstetter left office upon the swearing-in of Heinz-Christian Strache to his position on 18 December 2017.[5] In 2018, he served as a special adviser to European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová on rule-of-law issues.[6][7]
Member of the Constitutional Court, 2018–2021
editIn February 2018 Brandstetter was appointed as a member of the Constitutional Court of Austria.
When prosecutors opened a probe in 2021 into whether Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had lied to a parliamentary committee investigating allegations of corruption by members of his previous government, Brandstetter also became a subject of criminal investigations.[8][9]
In June 2021, Brandstetter resigned following the publication of a series of private text messages sent to him by former colleague Christian Pilnacek (suspended section head in the Austrian Ministry of Justice) containing sexist and racist language.[10][11]
Honours
edit- Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (11 February 2019).[12]
References
edit- ^ Ministry of Justice (December 17, 2017). "LEBENSLAUF:DR. WOLFGANG BRANDSTETTER".
- ^ Government of Austria (17 December 2017). "Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Ministers".
- ^ Institute for Austrian and European Business Criminal Law (17 December 2017). "o. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Brandstetter".
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Wikipedia (17 December 2017). "Wolfgang Brandstetter".
- ^ The Times of Israel (17 December 2017). "Heinz-Christian Strache, from neo-Nazi youth to Austria's next vice-chancellor".
- ^ Ingrid Steiner-Gashi (March 17, 2018), [1] Kurier.
- ^ Matthew Karnitschnig (June 4, 2021), Racist, sexist messages trip up Austrian judge at center of Kurz scandal Politico Europe.
- ^ Renate Graber and Fabian Schmid (April 17, 2021), Postenbesetzung: Justizminister Brandstetters Chauffeur wirkte an Hearing für Topjob mit Der Standard.
- ^ Matthew Karnitschnig (May 12, 2021), Sebastian Kurz’s political future in doubt amid perjury probe Politico Europe.
- ^ Matthew Karnitschnig (June 4, 2021), Racist, sexist messages trip up Austrian judge at center of Kurz scandal Politico Europe.
- ^ Stephan Löwenstein (June 4, 2021), Österreich: Wie ein Verfassungsrichter über private Chats stürzte Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
- ^ Volksblatt
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