Julius Anton Glaser (19 March 1831 – 26 December 1885) was an Austrian jurist and liberal politician.
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Born in Postelberg, Bohemia to a family of Jewish traders of humble means,[1] Glaser later converted to Christianity. In 1849, at the age of 18, he attained his doctorate of philosophy at the University of Zürich and gained a reputation as a criminalist thanks to a monograph on English and Scottish criminal procedure (Das englisch-schottische Strafverfahren, Vienna, 1850). In 1854, after also obtaining a doctorate of law in Vienna, he achieved habilitation as Privatdozent for Austrian criminal law at the University of Vienna. In 1856 he was appointed extraordinary professor, and in 1860, ordinary (tenured) professor.[2]
In 1871 he entered the Auersperg cabinet as minister of justice.[3] Resigning this office in 1879, he was appointed attorney-general at the Vienna Court of Cassation, which position he held until his death. From 1871 to 1879 he represented Vienna in the House of Representatives as a member of the Liberal party, and later became a member of the House of Lords.[2] A prominent representative of Austrian High Liberalism, he particularly emphasized the cultural and political preeminence of the German part of the Empire.[3]
He died in 1885 of pneumonia, leaving behind a widow, Wilhelmine (née Löwenthal), a son and two daughters. They obtained the hereditary title of Freiherr to which Glaser's decorations had entitled him.[1]
Glaser's principal legislative accomplishment was the 1873 Austrian Code of Criminal Procedure, the first Austrian code to introduce the principles of immediacy and publicity, trial by jury, and trial based on specific charges (Anklageprinzip).[3] As a scholar, he is best remembered for his Handbook of Criminal Procedure (1883/85), a systematic overview of German criminal procedure with wide-ranging comparative and historical notes.[3]
Among other decorations, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold and made a Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown. His relief portrait by Zumbusch in marble adorns the arcades of the University of Vienna.[1]