Hans Kelsen

Kelsen (1811-1973)  Hans Kelsen was a jurist and legal philosopher.       

H. Kelsen was born  in Prague  and he studied law  at the University of Vienna.

In 1912, Kelsen married Margarete Bondi,  and the couple had two daughters.

His major work was publicished in 1934 “ Pure Theory of Law”. After a few years he become more interested in international law.

Hans Kelsen

His Theory

Actually, Kelsen is considered one  of the best jurist of 20^th Century , especially in Europe and Latin America .

In his “ Pure Theory of Law”  he explain “ the law”  as binding norm, “ legal science”  is separate from “ legal politics”.  Kelsen contends, the bindingness of legal norms, their specifically 'legal' character, can be understood without tracing it ultimately to some “suprahuman” source such as God, so, the basic norm is presupposed by the jurist,  from which in a hierarchy all 'lower' norms in a legal system, beginning with constitutional law, are understood to derive their authority or 'bindingness'.

Kelsen's Pyramid