Wolfgang Brandstetter is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Austrian politician and legal scholar who served as a member of the

Constitutional Court of Austria The Constitutional Court (german: Verfassungsgerichtshof or ) in Austria is the tribunal responsible for judicial review. It verifies the constitutionality of statutes, the legality of ordinances and other primary and secondary legislation, sec ...

from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of Austria, as well as the country's

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

Career

In 2007 Brandstetter became director of the Institute for Austrian and European Economic Criminal Law at the

Vienna University of Economics and Business The Vienna University of Economics and Business (german: Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, WU) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria, the largest university focusing on business, management and economics in Europe. It has been ranked a ...

. Brandstetter was chosen to be a member of the

Werner Faymann Werner Faymann (; born 4 May 1960) is an Austrian former politician who was Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) from 2008 to 2016. On 9 May 2016, he resigned from both positions amid widening critic ...

cabinet in December 2013, designated to serve as the country's Minister of Justice. He later succeeded

Reinhold Mitterlehner Reinhold Mitterlehner (born 10 December 1955) is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who served as minister of economy in Austria's government from 2008 until 2017. In September 2014 he also became vice chancellor of A ...

in becoming the

Vice-Chancellor of Austria The vice-chancellor of Austria is a member of the Government of Austria and is the deputy to the Chancellor. It is functionally equivalent to a deputy prime minister in other countries with parliamentary systems. Description of the office Art. 6 ...

in May 2017. Brandtstetter left office upon the swearing-in of

Heinz-Christian Strache Heinz-Christian Strache (; born 12 June 1969) is an Austrian politician and dental technician who served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 2017 to 2019 before resigning owing to his involvement in the Ibiza affair. He was also Minister of Civi ...

to his position on 18 December 2017. In 2018, he served as a special adviser to European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality

Věra Jourová Věra Jourová (; born 18 August 1964) is a Czech politician and lawyer who has been the Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency since 1 December 2019 and previously served as the European Commissioner for Justice, C ...

on rule-of-law issues.

Member of the Constitutional Court, 2018–2021

In February 2018 Brandstetter was appointed as a member of the

. When prosecutors opened a probe in 2021 into whether Chancellor

Sebastian Kurz Sebastian Kurz (; born 27 August 1986) is a former Austrian politician who twice served as chancellor of Austria, initially from December 2017 to May 2019 and then a second time from January 2020 to October 2021. Kurz was born and raised in ...

had lied to a parliamentary committee investigating allegations of corruption by members of his previous government, Brandstetter also became a subject of criminal investigations. In June 2021, Brandstetter resigned following the publication of a series of private text messages sent to him by former colleague Christian Pilnacek (suspended section head in the Austrian Ministry of Justice) containing sexist and racist language.

Honours

* Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein The Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: Fürstlich liechtensteinischer Verdienstorden) is an order of merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein that is awarded for services rendered to the principality. Prince Franz I fo ...

(11 February 2019).Volksblatt
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References

, - 1957 births Vice-Chancellors of Austria University of Vienna alumni Living people Justice ministers of Austria {{Austria-politician-stub