Eric Hilgendorf
Encyclopedia
Eric Andreas Hilgendorf (born December 3, 1960, in Stuttgart
) is a German professor
of law
and legal philosopher. He currently works at the University of Würzburg
, serving as Dean of the Law Faculty and the Chair of the Department of Criminal Law
, Criminal Procedure
, Legal Theory, and Information
and Computer Science
Law.
in 1980, Hilgendorf entered the University of Tübingen where he studied several subjects including philosophy, modern history
, religious studies, and law. He finished his BA/MA degree with concentrations in philosophy and history with the submission of his master’s thesis on the "History of the Parliamentary Freedom of Speech
in Germany." He finished his PhD thesis in Philosophy in 1990 with a study on "Argumentation in Jurisprudence
," and was awarded his second PhD in the field of Law with his thesis entitled "Criminal Production Liability
in the Society of Risk." In 1997 he finished his habilitation dissertation with the focuses of criminal law
, criminal process, and legal philosophy with his essay "On the Distinction of Factual Statements and Value Judgments in Criminal Law."
Following his habilitation, Hilgendorf worked as a professor of criminal law
at the University of Konstanz
from 1997 to 2001. Since 2001 he has taught at the Julius-Maximillian University of Wurzburg
and was given the Chair of the Department of Criminal Law
, Criminal Justice
, Legal Theory, Information and Computer Science
Law. He was honored with the position of Dean of the Law Faculty in October 2010.
, biological criminal law, computer- and internet
criminal law, and comparative law
. He is also active in fountational legal research
including work in the subfields of legal philosophy, legal theory, bioethics
, history of legal thought, the history of criminal law, and human dignity. He belongs to the Pioneers of E-Learning
in Jurisprudence and from 2005 to 2009 was a member of the Commission on Virtual Higher-Education in Bavaria.
Among other distinctions, Professor Hilgendorf is a member of the Association of Criminal Law Teachers, the European Society for Analytic Philosophy
, a correspondent of the Hans Kelsen Society in Vienna
, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Giordano Bruno Foundation
. He has been called upon several times to give counsel to the German Parliament
and Federal Government
on matters of criminal law, medical law
, and internet crime.
Professor Hilgendorf has also been a spokesman for Wurzburg
's Center for Foundational Legal-Academic Research. He heads the University of Wurzburg
’s project "Global Systems and Intercultural Competence" (GSIK), which focuses on teaching students of all faculties how to recognize, analyze, and solve intercultural conflicts. Under this program are a number of projects focusing on international comparative law
. He was one of the organizers of an international team of researchers at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) in Bielefeld, Germany.
He is greatly involved in the field of legal development through his partnerships with universities in Turkey, the Caucasus
(mainly Azerbaijan
), and East Asia
(China, Korea and Japan), for example forming cooperative relations with Peking University Law School. In 2010, he and Professor Genlin Liang of the Peking University
of China founded the Chinese-German Federation of Criminal Law Professors (CDSV), whose goal it is to promote the academic exchange between the two countries.
Hilgendorf is also the chairperson of the Juristen ALUMNI Würzburg, the University of Würzburg Law Facultiy's alumni relations program.
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
) is a German 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...
and legal philosopher. He currently works at the University of Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
, serving as Dean of the Law Faculty and the Chair of the Department of Criminal Law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, Criminal Procedure
Criminal procedure
Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated criminal law.-Basic rights:Currently, in many countries with a democratic system and the rule of law, criminal procedure puts the burden of proof on the prosecution – that is, it is up to the...
, Legal Theory, and Information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
and Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
Law.
Academic Background
After graduating from high school in AnsbachAnsbach
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.Ansbach...
in 1980, Hilgendorf entered the University of Tübingen where he studied several subjects including philosophy, modern history
Modern history
Modern history, or the modern era, describes the historical timeline after the Middle Ages. Modern history can be further broken down into the early modern period and the late modern period after the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution...
, religious studies, and law. He finished his BA/MA degree with concentrations in philosophy and history with the submission of his master’s thesis on the "History of the Parliamentary Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
in Germany." He finished his PhD thesis in Philosophy in 1990 with a study on "Argumentation in Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
," and was awarded his second PhD in the field of Law with his thesis entitled "Criminal Production Liability
Liability
A liability can mean something that is a hindrance or puts an individual or group at a disadvantage, or something that someone is responsible for, or something that increases the chance of something occurring ....
in the Society of Risk." In 1997 he finished his habilitation dissertation with the focuses of criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, criminal process, and legal philosophy with his essay "On the Distinction of Factual Statements and Value Judgments in Criminal Law."
Following his habilitation, Hilgendorf worked as a professor of criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
at the University of Konstanz
University of Konstanz
The University of Konstanz is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was founded in 1966, and the main campus on the Gießberg was opened in 1972. As one of nine German Excellence Universities today University of Konstanz is counted among Germany's most prestigious...
from 1997 to 2001. Since 2001 he has taught at the Julius-Maximillian University of Wurzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
and was given the Chair of the Department of Criminal Law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
, Criminal Justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
, Legal Theory, Information and Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
Law. He was honored with the position of Dean of the Law Faculty in October 2010.
Academic Career
Professor Hilgendorf's main areas of concentration are medical lawMedical law
Medical law is the branch of law which concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of the patient. It should not be confused with medical jurisprudence, which is a branch of medicine, rather than a branch of law....
, biological criminal law, computer- and internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
criminal law, and comparative law
Comparative law
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves study of the different legal systems in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law...
. He is also active in fountational legal research
Legal research
Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...
including work in the subfields of legal philosophy, legal theory, bioethics
Bioethics
Bioethics is the study of controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy....
, history of legal thought, the history of criminal law, and human dignity. He belongs to the Pioneers of E-Learning
E-learning
E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process...
in Jurisprudence and from 2005 to 2009 was a member of the Commission on Virtual Higher-Education in Bavaria.
Among other distinctions, Professor Hilgendorf is a member of the Association of Criminal Law Teachers, the European Society for Analytic Philosophy
European Society for Analytic Philosophy
The European Society for Analytic Philosophy is a philosophical organization founded by Kevin Mulligan Barry Smith, Peter Simons, Pierre Jacob, Marco Santambrogio, Andreas Kemmerling, and Pascal Engel in 1991. The official journal of the society is Dialectica....
, a correspondent of the Hans Kelsen Society in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Giordano Bruno Foundation
Giordano Bruno Foundation
The Giordano Bruno Foundation is a Germany based non-profit foundation under public law that pursues the “Support of Evolutionary Humanism”. It was founded by entrepreneur Herbert Steffen in 2004 and was named after the Dominican monk Giordano Bruno who was convicted of heresy and burnt at the...
. He has been called upon several times to give counsel to the German Parliament
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
and Federal Government
Cabinet of Germany
The Cabinet of Germany is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Chancellor and the cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's organization are set down in articles 62 to 69 of the Basic Law.-Nomination:...
on matters of criminal law, medical law
Medical law
Medical law is the branch of law which concerns the prerogatives and responsibilities of medical professionals and the rights of the patient. It should not be confused with medical jurisprudence, which is a branch of medicine, rather than a branch of law....
, and internet crime.
Professor Hilgendorf has also been a spokesman for Wurzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
's Center for Foundational Legal-Academic Research. He heads the University of Wurzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
’s project "Global Systems and Intercultural Competence" (GSIK), which focuses on teaching students of all faculties how to recognize, analyze, and solve intercultural conflicts. Under this program are a number of projects focusing on international comparative law
Comparative law
Comparative law is the study of differences and similarities between the law of different countries. More specifically, it involves study of the different legal systems in existence in the world, including the common law, the civil law, socialist law, Islamic law, Hindu law, and Chinese law...
. He was one of the organizers of an international team of researchers at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) in Bielefeld, Germany.
He is greatly involved in the field of legal development through his partnerships with universities in Turkey, the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
(mainly Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
), and East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
(China, Korea and Japan), for example forming cooperative relations with Peking University Law School. In 2010, he and Professor Genlin Liang of the Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
of China founded the Chinese-German Federation of Criminal Law Professors (CDSV), whose goal it is to promote the academic exchange between the two countries.
Hilgendorf is also the chairperson of the Juristen ALUMNI Würzburg, the University of Würzburg Law Facultiy's alumni relations program.
Important Publications
Hilgendorf is the author of multiple books, essays, and annotations. Among them are (with English translation):- Argumentation in der Jurisprudenz. Zur Rezeption von analytischer Philosophie und kritischer Theorie in der Grundlagenforschung der Jurisprudenz (Argumentation in Jurisprudence: On the Reception of Analytical Philosophy and Critical Theory in the Basic Research of Jurisprudence), Tübingen, Univ., Diss., 1990
- Die Entwicklungsgeschichte der parlamentarischen Redefreiheit in Deutschland (Historical Development of the Parliamentary Freedom of Speech in Germany), Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1991
- Hans Albert zur Einführung (Hans Albert: an Introduction), Junius, Hamburg 1997 (Zur Einführung, 143)
- Wissenschaftlicher Humanismus. Texte zur Moral- und Rechtsphilosophie des frühen logischen Empirismus (Scientific Humanism: Essays on the Moral- and Legal-philosophy of early logical Empiricism), Haufe Verlag, Freiburg 1998 (Haufe-Schriftenreihe zur rechtswissenschaftlichen Grundlagenforschung, Bd. 12)
- Fallsammlung zum Strafrecht. Allgemeiner und Besonderer Teil (Casebook on Criminal Law: General and Specific Sections), 5. Ed., Beck, Munich 2008
- dtv - Atlas Recht Bd. 1. Grundlagen, Staatsrecht, Strafrecht (dtv - Atlas of Law Vol. 1. Foundations of Constitutional and Criminal Law), Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, Munich 2003, 2. Ed. 2008
- dtv - Atlas Recht Bd. 2 Verwaltungsrecht, Zivilrecht (dtv – Atlas of Law Vol. 2 Administrative Law, Civil Law), Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, Munich 2008
- Strafrecht Besonderer Teil (Criminal Law Specific Part), Gieseking Verlag, 2. Ed. Bielefeld 2009 (together with authors Gunter Arzt, Ulrich Weber and Bernd Heinrich)
- Die deutschsprachige Strafrechtswissenschaft in Selbstdarstellungen (The German Criminal-Law Science in Self-Representation), 2010 (Editor)
- Ostasiatisches Strafrecht (Eastasian Criminal Law), 2010 (Editor)
External links
- Literature from and on Professor Eric Hilgendorf in the catalogues of the German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
- Department of Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Legal Theory, Information and Computer Science Law at the University of WürzburgUniversity of WürzburgThe University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
- Full list of publications
- Project Homepage of Global Systems and Intercultural Competence
- Homepage of the Juristen ALUMNI Würzburg