Peter Häberle (1934-2025)
Testimonials
(Preview of the Profiles Section of issue 44 ReDCE)
On 6th October, the German constitutionalist Peter Häberle passed away at the age of 91. His German disciples, as well as Paolo Ridola and myself, had been following his condition in recent weeks, always hoping for his recovery. Markus Kotzur kept us always informed and we also received messages from Justus Vasel, who visited Häberle and gave us some encouragement. His disciples and his nephew, Dr Rolf Häberle, were devoted to him until the end, offering him care and comfort in his final moments.
I shared the news of his death with many members of the Häberle community via a mailing list, and condolences soon began to arrive from all over the world. Some of these testimonies have been collected here. Not only was Peter Häberle the Honorary Chairman of the Advisory Board of our review since its creation 21 years ago. The journal's editorial team has always been composed of his disciples, and the influence of his thinking is reflected in the large number of Peter Häberle's articles translated into Spanish and published in ReDCE, as well as reviews of his books, special issues dedicated to him, studies of his work and articles by other authors embracing his theories.
We want to share through the journal some of the recent tributes that have been published. The Peter Häberle Foundation will publish a book that will compile these and other testimonials. The testimonies included here primarily come from persons belonging to the Häberle community in various European and American countries.
My initial message with the sad news of Peter Häberle's death was publicised by Fulco Lanchester through a list that includes many Italian constitutionalists and comparative scholars. The Peter Häberle Foundation also announced the loss through Derecons in Spain. Diego Valadés used the social network X, while others used other social media platforms, like the Ibero-American Institute of Constitutional Law (IIDC) and the University of Granada, which also issued a statement distributed to the entire university community via email.
Paolo Ridola published a text dedicated to Peter Häberle on the AIC website in Italy, Peter Häberle. In memoriam. Vasco Pereira did so on the website of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, Nota de pesar| Prof. Dr. hc mult. Peter Haberle.le. Gilmar Mendes gave a speech at the Plenary Session of the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil, Homenagem a Peter Häberle em razão de seu falecimento: um clássico do direito constitucional. Several press releases from institutions linked to Peter Häberle and articles praising his work and his figure in Conjur have been published in Brazil in Conjur, as well as a text prepared by Gilmar Mendes and the Argentine constitutionalist Raúl Gustavo Ferreyra, Peter Häberle: jurista universal, amigo incondicional. In Spain, Antonio Jiménez-Blanco have published the text: En memoria de Peter Haeberle (1934-2025). In Peru, the Sociedad Peruana de Constitucionalistas and the Universidad de San Marcos, among other institutions, have expressed their condolences, and in Uruguay, the Center for Documentation and Constitutional Studies of Uruguay.
Messages of condolence have arrived from France, including those from Dominique Rousseau, Laurence Burgorgue-Larsen, and Jordane Arlettaz. These messages have also arrived from Italy (Antonio D’Atena, Angelo Schillaci, Paola Bilancia, Anna Papa, Roberto Miccù, Marilisa D’Amico, Nicola Lupo, Andrea Buratti, Sabrina Ragone, Giacomo Palombino, Rosa Iannaccone, Paolo Gambatesa and Ugo Adamo); Brazil (Ingo Sarlet, Carlos Strapazzon, Atalá Correia, Ilton Norberto Robl Filho, Guilherme Pupe, Hugo César Araújo de Gusmão and Maria Creusa Borges); Portugal (Mariana Rodrigues Canotilho); and Poland (Marta Klopocka-Jasinska), as well as other countries.
In Spain, there were expressions of sadness at the University of Granada from 6th October, when the news was announced. Messages of condolence were sent from the Department of Constitutional Law by Gregorio Cámara Villar, José Antonio Montilla Martos, José María Porras Ramírez, Agustín Ruiz Robledo, Ricardo Martín Morales, Baldomero Oliver León, Juan Francisco Sánchez Barrilao, Enrique Guillén López, Concepción Pérez Villalobos, Miguel Azpitarte Sánchez, Adoración Galera Victoria, Augusto Aguilar Calahorro, Antonio Pérez Miras and Francisco Manuel Barrera López.
On 7th October, the rector of the university, Pedro Mercado Pacheco, who is a professor of philosophy of law, issued a statement lamenting the loss of Professor Peter Häberle, whom he described as "an intellectual and human reference for generations of constitutionalists" and as someone who "has accompanied the Granada scientific community for decades". The Dean of the Faculty of Law, José Luis Pérez-Serrabona González, also highlighted his strong ties to the faculty and department, and his commitment to supporting those studying Public Law.
In these days, we have also received numerous messages of condolence from other departments of the Faculty of Law, such as those of José Luis Monereo Pérez, Estanislao Arana García, Javier Roldán Barbero, Leonardo Sánchez-Mesa Martínez, and Asensio Navarro Ortega, among others. We have also received condolences from constitutional scholars at other Spanish universities, including Pedro Cruz Villalón, María Luisa Balaguer Callejón, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Teresa Freixes Sanjuán, Yolanda Gómez Sánchez, Benito Aláez Corral, Cristina Elías Méndez, Amalia Balaguer Pérez, Susana de la Sierra Morón and Rafael Naranjo de la Cruz, among others.
A global community of constitutionalists has grown up around his work and his figure worldwide. Not all of them agree on either the way they understand constitutional law or the way they interpret the master. Some time ago, at one of our conferences, I referred to this diversity as "the open society of Peter Häberle's interpreters." This pluralism has always been compatible with a common inspiration in Häberle's thought, fostered by the personality of the master. Being one of the great German geniuses, his humility and the affable and friendly treatment he always showed us have contributed to generating fraternal bonds of friendship among the members of the Häberlian community.
Those of us who have enjoyed his teaching and friendship have been aware of the privilege of sharing reflections and debates with a historic figure. Someone whose thought is already part of the DNA of constitutionalism. The most universal of German constitutionalists, as evidenced by the number of translations of his works, the mark they have left both in the doctrinal and legal fields, the echo they have provoked, and the developments they have generated and will continue to generate in the future. Peter Häberle is part of the common heritage of constitutionalism, of a universal constitutional culture threatened today by populisms and the global power factors that sustain and promote them.
In Peter Häberle's work, we find the theoretical references that allow us to defend rights and democracy against the current regressions that are taking place and those that loom on an increasingly problematic horizon. As Antonio D'Atena always reminds us, a constitutionalist is not just any kind of jurist. Our commitment to the values that have inspired humanity's civilizational development is part of our work and also of our lives. So was Peter Häberle as constitutionalist: the most accomplished expression, in a jurist of our time, of a successful combination of intellectual vocation, personal commitment, and life attitude.
Francisco Balaguer Callejón
Professor of Constitutional Law. University of Granada.