Intensive Course: Transitional Constitutionalism in Central & E Europe After the Fall of Communism (LAW717H1S)

Note: Background reading (useful as an introduction to be read prior to the course):Martin Krygier and Adam Czarnota, “After Post-Communism: The Next Phase”, Annual Review of Law and Social Sciences (2006): 299-340.

Compulsory reading During the course, and in preparation of the final essays, students will be required to read Wojciech Sadurski, Rights Before Courts: A Study of Constitutional Courts in Postcommunist States of Central and Eastern Europe (Springer, paper edition and e-book 2008

After the fall of Communism in Europe in 1989, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has been the stage on which one of the largest constitutional experimentations in history has been played out: it seemed that everything fell within the constitutional domain, and the region became a fascinating constitutional laboratory. In fact, “experimentation” was surprisingly limited: path dependence was very important and emulation of the foreign models was dominant. However, which models became most influential, and which constitutional patterns were selected, are in themselves enormously important issues, and will constitute the main focus of this course. The course considers: (1) general characteristics of “transitional constitutionalism” in CEE: its determinants and key traits; (2) the model of constitutional review and the design of constitutional courts in CEE and their modes of operation, methods of reasoning, selection of judges and significance of decisions; (3) personal, civil and political rights in CEE constitutions and in the judgments of constitutional courts, with special emphasis on right to life and dignity, freedom of speech and religion, and the right to privacy; (4) typically “transitional” constitutional measures regarding various methods of “dealing with the past” (“lustration”, “decommunization”); (5) socio-economic rights, equality rights, and minority rights; and (6) Europeanization of constitutional law in CEE, discussed in two dimensions: in the relationship of national laws with the European Convention of Human Rights system, and in the relationship with the European Union. As a result of taking this course, students will understand how global constitutional patterns affected constitutional developments in CEE after the fall of Communism, and how, in turn, constitutionalism in that region contributed to world-wide constitutional trends.