Helene Lieser · 1933
Helene Lieser’s short review compares editions of the banking law of 21 April 1932 prepared by Ant. Jeřábek and Oswald Doernfest. Its opening places these practical legal publications within an international legislative trend:
Bankengesetze sind jetzt international, letzte legislative Mode, daher haben auch derartige Kommentare und Ausgaben eine weit über die Grenzen des eigenen Landes hinausgehende Bedeutung.
English translation: Banking laws are now the latest legislative fashion internationally; hence commentaries and editions of this kind also have an importance extending far beyond the borders of their own country.
Their international relevance does not, for Lieser, establish the effectiveness of banking regulation. She declines a theoretical discussion of whether such laws achieve their purposes, but asserts that experience speaks against them. The substantial revision of Czechoslovakia’s 1924 banking laws supplies the occasion for a pointed question:
Wann wird man wieder das Gesetz vom Jahre 1932 novellieren?
English translation: When will the law of 1932 itself be amended again?
The question makes legislative revision a sign of unresolved difficulties rather than assured progress. Lieser nevertheless distinguishes skepticism about the legislation from appreciation of the editions that make it intelligible.
The remainder compares their editorial methods. Jeřábek reproduces the new and earlier laws, using cross-references for provisions carried over into the new legislation to avoid repetition. Explanatory memoranda, Senate reports, and editorial comments clarify the material; an appendix supplies implementing regulations and parliamentary resolutions. Lieser judges the German translation apparently excellent.
Doernfest arranges the texts differently but also clearly. Instead of reproducing parliamentary materials in full, he incorporates them into explanatory commentary. Lieser credits this approach with making the provisions accessible as far as the law’s complexity permits. Her central distinction is thus between the uncertain efficacy of banking legislation and the demonstrable usefulness of careful legal presentation: both editions earn approval through different means of organizing and explaining a difficult statutory framework.
This work was divided into 1 sections when it entered the library's research corpus—an apparatus for search and citation, not necessarily the author's own table of contents. Each title opens its summary.
Put a question to this work; the Librarian answers from its 1 sections and cites the passage.
Ask the Librarian