31 Facts About Karl Korinek

Karl Korinek was an Austrian constitutional scholar and educator.

In 1978, Karl Korinek was appointed to the Austrian Constitutional Court; he served as the president of the court from 2003 until his retirement in 2008.

Karl Korinek clashed with Wolfgang Schussel on health care and immigration reform and with Jorg Haider on minority protection matters; he received praise from political opponents for his firm stance on human rights issues in general.

Karl Korinek has authored several books and more than 250 scholarly papers.

Karl Korinek was born on 12 December 1940 in Vienna as the son of Franz Korinek, a lawyer and future politician, and his wife Viktoria.

The family was conservative; Karl Korinek's father joined the Austrian People's Party after the end of World War II and went on to become General Secretary of the Austrian Economic Chamber, the national entrepreneurs' and industrialists' advocacy group; he later served as the minister of finance for a term.

Karl Korinek received his secondary education at the Gymnasium Mariahilf, a school with special emphasis on the classical humanities.

Karl Korinek spent the next year working as a trainee at various Viennese courts.

From 1986 to 1992, Karl Korinek was president of Austrian Standards International; from 1987 to 2002, he sat on the board of the Deutsches Institut fur Normung.

Karl Korinek served on the boards of directors of a number of publicly traded companies and NGOs, most notably the Uniqa Insurance Group and the ERSTE Foundation.

In 1978, Karl Korinek was appointed to the Austrian Constitutional Court.

Karl Korinek was promoted to vice president of the court in 1999, to president in 2003.

Karl Korinek retired from his university positions and from most other responsibilities when he assumed the presidency.

Karl Korinek kept his seat on the board of the State Opera, a side job that was particularly dear to him.

Karl Korinek was a member of the Convention from its launch to its conclusion in 2005.

Effective May 2008, Karl Korinek retired from the court, citing health reasons.

Karl Korinek died on 9 March 2017 after a protracted struggle with heart disease.

Commentators credit Karl Korinek with having played a significant role in modernizing the tribunal's jurisprudence on constitutional rights questions; the court itself agrees.

Karl Korinek is credited for the fact that the court, under his leadership, has softened its traditional commitment to judicial restraint and has grown more assertive, protecting human rights principles more energetically and striking down laws more often.

Karl Korinek has been noted for his impact as an educator.

Karl Korinek is said to have played a prominent role in shaping the minds of several generations of Austrian jurists.

Karl Korinek has been called the "doyen" of Austrian legal scholarship and one of the most distinguished personalities in the country's legal history.

Karl Korinek was active in the Vienna Catholic Academy and in the Association of Catholic Graduates.

Karl Korinek credited his Christianity in general and Thomas Aquinas in particular with having materially influenced his legal philosophy.

Karl Korinek became known for a number of signature positions that received praise from both sides of the political spectrum.

Karl Korinek advocated for transparency in government, called for an overhaul of Austria's outsized and convoluted constitution, and demanded that legislators put craftsmanship before ideology in drafting statutes.

Karl Korinek took a firm stance against government encroachments on constitutional rights.

Karl Korinek supported Andreas Khol in the 2016 Austrian presidential election.

Karl Korinek sang in the Vienna State Opera choir in his student days; he remained involved in State Opera life throughout his career and well into retirement.

Karl Korinek authored books on the relationship between government and the arts, on Joseph Haydn, and on the, a comic opera by Richard Strauss.

Karl Korinek published a book on the life and times of Julius Raab, which became a local bestseller.