Special issue: Erosion of the rule of law in East Central Europe

Summary:

This special issue focuses on the dramatic weakening of liberal constitutionalism and the rule of law, apparent in Hungary and Poland during the last few years. It is actually focusing on the constitutional crisis brought about by the Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and his Hungarian Civic Alliance (Fidesz) party since 2010 and the Polish Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) party and its leader Jarosław Kaczyński since 2015.

The Hungarian and Polish problem has received much publicity and has frequently been discussed by the various organs of the European Union (triggering Article 7 on sanctions against Poland for the violation of the rule of law). It has acquired an ever-growing interest in the academic community. This issue sheds light on new perspectives of European development in the Eastern members of the EU by providing a cross-disciplinary investigation on the concept of the rule of law.

Articles:

Introduction
Dawid Bunikowski, Katalin Miklóssy, Heino Nyyssönen

The East is different, isn’t it? Poland and Hungary in search of prestige
Heino Nyyssönen

Lacking rule of law in the lawyers’ regime: Hungary
Katalin Miklóssy

The constitutional crisis in Poland, Schmittian questions and Kaczyński’s political and legal philosophy
Dawid Bunikowski

Performing the nation: the Janus-faced populist foundations of illiberalism in Hungary
Emilia Palonen

Defining the new polity: constitutional memory in Hungary and beyond
Katalin Miklóssy, Heino Nyyssönen

Some remarks on the EU’s action on the erosion of the rule of law in Poland and Hungary
Walter Rech