[Rezension zu] Justin Bloński: Strafgesetz über Gefällsübertretungen vom 11. Juli 1835

Robert Meyer on Bloński’s Edition of the Fiscal Penal Law (1882)

Robert Meyer’s brief review assesses Justin Bloński’s 1881 edition of the 1835 law on fiscal offences in Manz’s pocket series of Austrian statutes. Its central judgment combines practical approval with a precise reservation about editorial authority. The edition meets a need created by the obsolescence of earlier commentary:

Die in älterer Zeit zu dem Gefällsstrafgesetz erschienenen Commentare sind längst antiquirt und fast ausser Gebrauch.

English translation: The commentaries on the penal statute concerning revenue offences that appeared in earlier times have long since become antiquated and have nearly fallen out of use.

Meyer praises Bloński’s diligence and expertise, especially the inclusion of official instructions, the 1836 application rules, and relevant penal provisions from newer consumption-tax laws. Cross-references clarify relations both within the statute and with customs and monopoly regulations. Such apparatus makes the law more usable without replacing consultation of the original enactments:

Freilich wird der Beamte dadurch nicht der Nothwendigkeit überhoben, jene Gesetze im Originale zur Hand zu nehmen.

English translation: Admittedly the official is not thereby relieved of the necessity of taking up those statutes in the original.

The review then distinguishes documentary assistance from the editor’s own deductions and opinions. Meyer questions whether the latter belong in a statutory edition and singles out the note to § 103 as requiring more cautious wording in light of § 240. His concern is thus the boundary between presenting authoritative law and supplying interpretation. Despite that reservation, he concludes that the volume is a welcome addition answering an urgent professional need. The review’s significance lies in this conjunction of praise for accessible legal tools and insistence on restraint in editorial annotation.