The article constitutes a review of the changes in law in post-communist countries of Eastern Europe, conducted from the socio-legal perspective. The frame of the discussion is a specific and interrelated group of questions: what are the distinctive features of these transformations, to what extent are these changes permanent, and what would we mean by saying that the postcommunist region has entered a 'new phase'? The article discusses the aims and significance of the rule of law, questions related to the broadly understood justice system, constitutional tribunals, former secret police and a range of questions about 'dealing with the past' i.e. communist institutions, property rights etc. The article concludes with a consideration of the likely impact of European accession on those countries that have been accepted as EU members as well as on those that have not yet been accepted, and on those that are unlikely ever to be accepted.
The content of this article was presented at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Autumn School of Law “The Changes of the Rule of Law” organized by the Institution of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (11.-19. november 2011 in Modra Harmonia).One of the most remarkable feature of the past century represents the process of the “gradual externalization” of the rule of law principles (originally rooted within the internal legal order of states) on the “higher” level of international legal order. This process has been accompanied by a number of problems due to particularities of international legal order and its differences (with the comparison of domestic legal orders of states).Despite this facts some concrete results of this process have been achieved and following segments of international rule of law are today generally recognized both in the practice of states and legal writing of international law. International normativity today represents dynamic segment of international rule of law with regard of the increasing scope of its regulation combined with specialization and the tendency of universality in more important topics of international law. In its entirety represents less or more detailed and/or efficient measure in order to exclude or at least to reduce the room for wilful (arbitrary) conduct of states and other subjects of international law. Principle of legal equality of states can be also observed within the segment of international normativity. Generally speaking its main purpose is to guarantee equal position of all states vis á vis the system of international law including the process of creation of its rules (both conventional and customary), process of its formal validity, the process of their practical application by equal and non discriminatory manner in relation to all state parties of valid international treaties etc. Unlike of domestic legal orders of states where the application of responsibility is regularly preceded by the decision (s) of independent judicial bodies the situation within the segment of international normativity is different. The principal reason of such difference consists in a lack of obligatory jurisdiction of international judicial bodies. There is a general consensus that the acceptation of obligatory jurisdiction of international courts would strengthen the role of rule of law especially in the sphere of so called secondary rules of international law and their enforceability.
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