Eduard Herbst (9 December 1820 – 25 June 1892) was an Austrian jurist and politician. He served as Minister of Justice in the " Citizens' Ministry" of

Cisleithania Cisleithania, also ''Zisleithanien'' sl, Cislajtanija hu, Ciszlajtánia cs, Předlitavsko sk, Predlitavsko pl, Przedlitawia sh-Cyrl-Latn, Цислајтанија, Cislajtanija ro, Cisleithania uk, Цислейтанія, Tsysleitaniia it, Cislei ...

from 1867 to 1870.

Life

Born in Vienna, Herbst studied law at the University of Vienna and obtained his doctorate in 1843. He commenced civil service and in 1847 became a professor of criminal law and the philosophy of law at the University of Lemberg (Lviv), promoted to rector in 1853. From 1858, he was professor at the Charles University in Prague. Herbst was elected deputy to the Bohemian Diet in 1861, and, in accordance with the February Patent, was sent by the Diet to the lower House of Deputies of the Austrian Imperial Council (''Reichsrat''). A gifted speaker and firebrand, he became one of the most conspicuous members of the liberal Constitutional Party in parliament. Herbst had agitated against the

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

; nevertheless, after the implementation of the December Constitution, he was appointed Minister of Justice in the liberal cabinet ('' Bürgerministerium'') of Cisleithanian minister-president

Prince Karl of Auersperg Karl Wilhelm Philipp, 8th Prince of Auersperg, Duke of Gottschee (; 1 May 1814 in Prague – 4 January 1890 in Prague) was a Bohemian and an Austrian nobleman and statesman. He served as the first Minister-President of Cisleithania and the fir ...

on December 30. Eduard Herbst 1881

As such, he introduced a number of important reforms—among them the abolition of imprisonment for debt, the introduction of the jury in libel suits against the press, the organization of the district courts, important finance measures, and, above all, the confessional ordinances of 1868. Herbst retained his office under Auersperg's successor

Eduard Taaffe Eduard Franz Joseph Graf von Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (24 February 183329 November 1895) was an Austrian statesman, who served for two terms as Minister-President of Cisleithania, leading cabinets from 1868 to 1870 and 1879 to 1893. He was a ...

, with whom he fell out in 1870, when he sided with Education Minister

Leopold Hasner von Artha Leopold Hasner von Artha (15 March 1818, Prague – 5 June 1891, Bad Ischl) was an Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps ...

against Taaffe's

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

policies; he and Hasner resigned on April 4. His party lost its control of the government, and he led the German liberal opposition in the Reichsrat in its attacks on the cabinets of

Alfred Jozef Potocki Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

and Karl Sigmund von Hohenwart. The fall of the latter, in October 1871, brought the Constitutional Party more into power, when Herbst became a leader of the government forces in the Austrian Lower House. He remained an advocate of centralist German-Liberal politics and stood out as an opponent of the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878. In the latter years of his life, however, during the second cabinet of Minister-president Taaffe from 1879 onwards, Herbst lost much of his former influence because of a split in his former compact party. Herbst also was a profound legal academic. Among his writings may be mentioned his ''Handbuch des österreichischen Strafrechts'' (7th edition, 1882–84).

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