Constitutional Politics and the Judiciary
Constitutional Politics and the Judiciary

Author: Kálmán Pócza

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-11-19

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780429467097

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Recent confrontations between constitutional courts and parliamentary majorities, for example in Poland and Hungary, have attracted international interest in the relationship between the judiciary and the legislature in Central and Eastern European countries. Several political actors have argued that courts have assumed too much power after the democratic transformation process in 1989/1990. These claims are explicitly or implicitly connected to the charge that courts have constrained the room for manoeuvre of the legislatures too heavily and that they have entered the field of politics. Nevertheless, the question to what extent has this aggregation of power constrained the dominant political actors has never been examined accurately and systematically in the literature. The present volume fills this gap by applying an innovative research methodology to quantify the impact and effect of court's decisions on legislation and legislators, and measure the strength of judicial decisions in six CEE countries.

Rights Before Courts
Rights Before Courts

Author: Wojciech Sadurski

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-26

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 9401789355

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is a completely revised and updated second edition of Rights Before Courts (2005, paper edition 2008). This book carefully examines the most recent wave of the emergence and case law of activist constitutional courts: those that were set up after the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. In contrast to most other analysts and scholars, the study does not take for granted that they are a “force for good” but rather subjects them to critical scrutiny against a background of wide-ranging comparative and theoretical analysis of constitutional judicial review in the modern world. The new edition takes in new case law and constitutional developments in the decade since the first edition, including considering the recent disturbing disempowerment of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (which previously was probably the most powerful constitutional court in the world) resulting from the fundamental constitutional changes brought about by the Fidesz government.

The Judiciary in Central and Eastern Europe
The Judiciary in Central and Eastern Europe

Author: Zdenek Kühn

Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

Published: 2011-10-28

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 9004175563

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The book analyses the judicial culture in East Central Europe from the era of Stalinism up to the post-Communist period of the 1990s and 2000s. The book targets the judicial ideology and the conception of law, phenomena most resistant to change.

Transnational Networking and Elite Self-empowerment
Transnational Networking and Elite Self-empowerment

Author: Cristina E. Parau

Publisher: British Academy Monographs

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780197266403

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Judicial institutions in the new democracies established after the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe have become patterned on a transnational template that maximises judicial empowerment to the detriment of national parliaments. Through the influence of an elite, transnational community of interest, revisions to the judiciary have been implemented with little attention from politicians or the public. As a result, there has been a shift in the role of the judiciary from adjudication under the law towards improvising public policy. Transnational Networks and Elite Self-Empowerment is an inquiry into why and how this could have come about, and what the implications are for democracy. Cristina Parau explores the processes by which the elites have used transnational networks as a means of self-empowerment, and how they have been able to entrench their minority influence within the constitutions of their countries. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach, she builds a strong case through a deep analysis set against and supported by an extensive series of interviews with key political actors. This is a timely reminder of the need to pay attention to our democratic institutions and not to take for granted the foundations on which they are laid.

The Rule of Law in Central Europe
The Rule of Law in Central Europe

Author: Jiri Pribán

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-04

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 0429775997

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First published in 1999, this volume is a series of essays on the countries of Central Europe. The essays explore the post-1989 establishment of the rule of law and civil society. It brings together analysis and perceptions from social scientists, political scientists and lawyers, seeking through particular issues to explore the similarities and differences between different countries. While other books have explored the changes in former Soviet Block countries since 1989, the book’s distinctiveness lies in three qualities: its concentration on Central Europe a concept explored in the book; giving fuller attention to the Czech Republic and Slovakia than other post-communist studies often do; providing perceptions of scholars from different disciplines.

Judicial Independence in Transition
Judicial Independence in Transition

Author: Anja Seibert-Fohr

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-04-25

Total Pages: 1367

ISBN-13: 3642282997

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Strengthening the rule of law has become a key factor for the transition to democracy and the protection of human rights. Though its significance has materialized in international standard setting, the question of implementation is largely unexplored. This book describes judicial independence as a central aspect of the rule of law in different stages of transition to democracy. The collection of state-specific studies explores the legal situation of judiciaries in twenty states from North America, over Western, Central and South-Eastern Europe to post-Soviet states and engages in a comparative legal analysis. Through a detailed account of the current situation it takes stocks, considers advances in and shortcomings of judicial reform and offers advice for future strategies. The book shows that the implementation of judicial independence requires continuous efforts, not only in countries in transition but also in established democracies which are confronted with ever new challenges.

Illiberal and Authoritarian Tendencies in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe
Illiberal and Authoritarian Tendencies in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe

Author: Florian Bieber

Publisher: Peter Lang Gmbh, Internationaler Verlag Der Wissenschaften

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783034326810

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Even though the democratic decline has been deemed a global phenomenon, the question of how it manifests itself in the postcommunist world and how it varies across different regions with divergent levels of democratic consolidation has not been sufficiently addressed yet. This book tries to fill the gap and examines the causes and nature of the deteriorating quality of democracy in Central Europe as well as the reversal or stagnation of democratization processes in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. The political elite plays a key role in initiating legislative changes that may lead to democratic backsliding. Its constant commitment to the rule of law and to the practice of selfrestraint in securing the independence of judiciary and the rights of political opposition appears hence indispensable for sustainable liberal democracy.

Rethinking the Rule of Law after Communism
Rethinking the Rule of Law after Communism

Author: Adam Czarnota

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2005-09-10

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 6155053626

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the original euphoria that attended the virtually simultaneous demise of so many dictatorships in the late 1980s and early 90s, there was a widespread belief that problems of 'transition' basically involved shedding a known past, and replacing it with an also-known future. This volume surveys and contributes to the prolific debates that occurred in the years between the collapse of communism and the enlargement of the European Union regarding the issues of constitutionalism, dealing with the past, and the rule of law in the post-communist world. Eminent scholars explore the issue of transitional justice, highlighting the distinct roles of legal and constitutional bodies in the post-transition period. The introduction seeks to frame the work as an intervention in the discussion of communism and transition-two stable and separate points-while emphasizing the instability of the post-transition moment.

Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe
Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe

Author: Astrid Lorenz

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-10-27

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 3030546748

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This open access book provides an in-depth look into the background of rule of law problems and the open defiance of EU law in East Central European countries. Current illiberal trends and anti-EU politics have the potential to undermine mutual trust between member states and fundamentally change the EU. It is therefore crucial to understand their domestic causes, context conditions, specific processes and consequences. This volume contributes to empirically informed theory-building and includes contributions from researchers from various disciplines and multiple perspectives on illiberal trends and anti-EU politics in the region. The qualitative case studies, comparative works and quantitative analyses provide a comprehensive picture of current societal, political and institutional developments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Through studying similarities and differences between East Central European and other EU countries, the chapters also explore whether there are regional patterns of democracy- and EU-related problems.

Perceptions of the Independence of Judges in Europe
Perceptions of the Independence of Judges in Europe

Author: Frans van Dijk

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-14

Total Pages: 113

ISBN-13: 3030631435

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This open access book is about the perception of the independence of the judiciary in Europe. Do citizens and judges see its independence in the same way? Do judges feel that their independence is respected by the users of the courts, by the leadership of the courts and by politicians? Does the population trust the judiciary more than other public institutions, or less? How does independence of the judiciary work at the national level and at the level of the European Union? These interrelated questions are particularly relevant in times when the independence of the judiciary is under political pressure in several countries in the European Union, giving way to illiberal democracy. Revealing surveys among judges, lay judges and lawyers - in addition to regular surveys of the European Commission - provide a wealth of information to answer these questions. While the answers will not please everyone, they are of interest to a wide audience, in particular court leaders, judges, lawyers, politicians and civil servants.