Germán José Bidart Campos (1927-2004)

Abstract

Abstract: This contribution presents Professor Germán José Bidart Campos—without a shadow of doubt one of the great Latin American jurists. A towering figure of Argentine constitutional law, Bidart Campos was simultaneously a legal scholar at large. Although he wrote mostly on matters of public law, he was learned about every single area of law, and his papers deal with all sorts of issues. This chapter offers an overview of Bidart Campos’s work and focuses on his legal contributions in the light of his Christian views. The chapter also covers his far-reaching additions to fields such as the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. Even poetry was part of the scope of his work, and is also featured in this chapter. Bidart (as he was usually called in Argentina) was at the same time a conscientious Christian. His religious beliefs, nevertheless, were occasionally in tension with some of his policy positions, especially in his later years. This chapter attempts to prove that, notwithstanding that tension, Bidart Campos persevered to the end in reconciling constitutional conviction with Catholic dogma.