Julius Glaser

Julius Anton Glaser was an Austrian jurist and classical-liberal politician who, together with Joseph Unger, is regarded as a founder of modern Austrian jurisprudence. He served as Minister of Justice in the Auersperg cabinet from 1871 to 1879 and afterward as attorney-general at the Vienna Court of Cassation until his death. Glaser's most lasting achievement was the 1873 Austrian Code of Criminal Procedure, the first Austrian code to introduce trial by jury, public and immediate proceedings, and the principle that an accused could only be tried on specific stated charges, protections that remained in force until 1938. He also wrote an influential comparative Handbook of Criminal Procedure and advocated for the abolition of the death penalty.