Abstract: Hand shears (1), particularly those which can be used as branch, hedge and/or garden shears, comprise two shearing blades (2, 3) which can be tilted toward or away from one another by two hand levers (4 and 5) about a common joint (6). The hand levers (4 and 5) are joined to one another directly independently of the shearing blades (2 and 3) by means of a second joint (8) which is offset parallel to the shearing blades joint (6). The shearing blade (2) is rigidly connected with a hand lever (4), while the other shearing blade (3) has a driving arm (9), which protrudes beyond the shearing blade joint (6) and to which one end of a coupler (10) is hinged at the linking axis (11). By way of its other end, the coupler (10) is attached also through a linking axis (12) to the second hand lever (5). The two hand levers (4 and 5) and the two shearing blades (2 and 3) together form a four-joint system.