Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg

Volume 42 Issue 1

Issue of Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie

Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available May 19, 2022

Titelseiten

Page range: I-IV

Download PDF

Socio-Legal Perspectives on the Rule of Law

May 19, 2022

Socio-legal perspectives on the rule of law: Introduction to the issue focus

Eva Kocher, Marta Bucholc, Christian Boulanger

Page range: 1-4

May 19, 2022

The access to justice gap and the rule of law crisis in Poland

Jan Winczorek, Karol Muszyński

Page range: 5-42

Abstract

The article discusses selected problems of access to justice in Poland as an important context for the rule of law crisis since 2015. The difficulties in formally addressing justiciable problems were illustrated by the findings of empirical studies conducted in 2015 and 2018. The article argues that having experienced obstacles in addressing their justiciable issues, Polish society has developed what can be termed a highly rational stance towards the legal system, which can be expected to contribute to its reluctance to actively oppose the sweeping reforms of the judiciary introduced by populists. Understanding the effects of inaccessibility of justice combined with insufficient options to resolve justiciable problems outside of the law and legal institutions is an important addition to the prevailing politics- and culture-centred approaches to understanding of the long-standing multifaceted conflict around the judiciary in Poland.

May 19, 2022

The Rule of Law as a Postcolonial Relic: The Narrative of the Polish Right

Marta Bucholc

Page range: 43-66

Abstract

The article discusses the use of postcolonial framing in the 2019 election agenda of Prawo i Sprawiedliwość . The main argument is that the framing of contemporary EU-relations as a new colonial dependence is crucial for the understanding of the backsliding on the standards of the democratic rule of law in Poland. A detailed analysis of the 2019 agenda focuses on five selected components of postcolonial framing: (1) creolisation of elites; (2) mimicry; (3) hybridity; (4) subalternity; and (5) voicelessness. The discussion of findings zooms in on the ways in which the postcolonial framing of Poland’s position in the EU is being used to question the EU rule of law standards. Thus, the article makes a direct connection between framing the EU-Poland relations and the reasons offered in domestic politics to undermine the rule of law.

May 19, 2022

Politics, Religion and Law

The Autonomy of the Polish Constitutional Court in Question

Tomasz Warczok, Hanna Dębska

Page range: 67-88

Abstract

One of the key principles of the rule of law is the independence of the judiciary. This idea is usually presented in an abstract and normative way, while its meaning remains highly debatable. Leaving aside formal and legal assumptions, this article focuses on a detailed examination of a specific court – the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (CT) – an institution commonly perceived as one that has recently lost its “independence” in favour of subordination to political power. In order to show that this process is deeply complex and far from being common-sense, we replace the category of “(in)dependence” with the more appropriate notions of relative autonomy and heteronomy. Therefore, the object of a detailed analysis is the biographical trajectories of all CT judges elected between its establishment in 1985 and 2019. Applying geometric analysis to prosopographical data (a collective biography of judges), allows us to demonstrate the multidimensionality and dynamics of the autonomy (or heteronomy) of a key judicial institution and reveal hidden power relations (legal, political, religious, etc.) that go beyond the common-sense “politicization of law”.

May 19, 2022

Empirical Research on the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. A Short Report on the State of the Art in Political Science

Oliver W. Lembcke

Page range: 89-105

Abstract

The article undertakes an overall view of the political science contributions to federal constitutional court research in the last 15 years. It assigns the development strands to different designs and theoretical paradigms. What follows is a brief introduction into the relationship between the rule of law and constitutional courts and a short review of the relevant impulses and favoring factors within the German-speaking research landscape for this branch of research. This overview reviews then three research fields – rationalities of action, networks, and impact – are examined in more detail and their innovations and desiderata.

Rezensionen

May 19, 2022

Kristina Simion, Rule of law intermediaries. Brokering influence in Myanmar, Cambridge Studies in Law and Society. Cambridge University Press. 2021, 280 S., ISBN: 9781108830867, £85.00

Judith Beyer

Page range: 106-109

May 19, 2022

Helmut Philipp Aust & Esra Demir-Gürsel (2021) The European Court of Human Rights. Current Challenges in Historical Perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Silvia Steininger

Page range: 110-120

May 19, 2022

Ulrike Schultz/Gisela Shaw/Margaret Thornton/Rosemary Auchmuty (Hrsg.): Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy, Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Oxfort et al.: Hart Publishing, 2021, 592 S., ISBN 978-1509923113. £ 108,–

Anja Böning

Page range: 121-127

May 19, 2022

Carsten Stahn, Justice as Message: Expressivist Foundations of International Criminal Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, ISBN: 978-0198864189, 480 Seiten, 115 Euro

Philipp Günther

Page range: 128-133

Open Access May 19, 2022

Jiří Přibáň, Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2020, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-78990-517-5 (hardback), 185 £

Stefan Machura

Page range: 134-138

Download PDF

May 19, 2022

Antwort auf Hubert Rottleuthner

Inga Markovits

Page range: 139-147

About this journal

About the Journal

Established in 1980, the Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie – The German Journal of Law and Society offers a forum for the academic analysis of law in its societal context and on the relationship between law and society. The notion of ‘society’ is interpreted broadly. The journal publishes contributions from all disciplines as long as the relationship between law and society can be identified as a core theme. Papers with a theoretical focus and empirically-based analyses are equally welcome. We also publish essays that do not follow the typical format of a journal article as long as the arguments and reasoning are of an academic standard. The journal also features a book review section which discusses recent sociology of law texts published in Germany and other countries. Submissions may be written in German or English.

Only original contributions will be published. However, contributions to the journal may be republished elsewhere provided that the place of first publication is cited.

An overview over the development of the journal can be found in: Cottier Michelle, Die Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie: seit bald 40 Jahren Kristallisationspunkt und Kommunikationsarena der deutschsprachigen Rechtssoziologie, in: Christian Boulanger (Hrsg.) "Rechtssoziologisch publizieren" – Dokumentation eines Rundtischgespräches, 26.03.2019, https://barblog.hypotheses.org/cottier-zeitschrift-fuer-rechtssoziologie.

Peer review

Contributions will be subject to a double blind peer review process, where necessary more than once, involving at least two external referees before the editors take a decision on publication.

Publication frequency

The journal is published twice a year and is included in the abstracting services of Sociological Abstracts and SOLIS – Sozialwissenschaftliches Literaturinformationssystem (a German social science database).