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In the second part of the text the author looks into the paradox of the concept of justice as discerned by Jacques Derrida, & analyzes the tradition of the European constitutional law. Since the constitution & politics are discordant & semantically irritating mediums, the author argues that the European Union is an open semantic relationship of legal acquisitions & political processes. The European Union should be explained by means of contemporary, postmodernist theories derived from the linguistic & deconstructivist reversals of the modern substantial rationalism, universalism & cosmopolitism. Consequently, the constitution & the law are not underpinned by the political or any other specific power; on the contrary, it is the unspecific power of the constitution & the law that enables the gradual development & strengthening of the European law & the constitution without the extra constitutional authorities as the disguised power that traditionally legitimizes law. References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper provides a detailed overview of the existing relationship between the just war theory & international law. It stresses the fact that the two concepts were historically incompatible. The just War theory falls within ethics & appeals to superior principles that were not in accordance with the positivist law theory & the concept of sovereignty upon which public international law was founded. That incompatibility may at first seem as a paradox since the two concepts should be derived from a common base: the idea of justice. Further development of international law has clearly proved that law cannot be separated from the idea of justice & that is, to some extent, closely linked to some elements of natural law. The author concludes that in the domain of the use of force contemporary international law provides a legal frame, which is in accordance with the precepts of the just war theory. References. Adapted from the source document.

In the introductory part of the essay, the author looks into the connection between the establishment & attributes of the so-called state of law & the legal system of continental Europe. This is followed by his summary of the origins of the idea of the state of law & its historical setting. In the middle part of the essay the author offers a list of values, value principles & the premises of the so-called state of law with the corresponding conclusions about a marked, multilevel/multiple restricted meaning & scope of the (mostly) dogmatic, formal/legal principles of the so-called state of law. The author concludes the essay with a rough appraisal of the condition of the so-called state of art in the Republic of Croatia. 51 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author suggests that the process of establishing a Croatian state based on law ought to differentiate varieties both on the diachronic & genetic level as well as on the synchronic & systematic level. He maintains that distinguishing different types of state based on law (absolute/sovereign, liberal, social) & their specific problems offers analytical possibilities for the theoretical definition of institutions & regulating mechanisms better able to solve the basic problems in the development of Croatian society & the Croatian state. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article is devoted to the doctrine & practice of the Law of Treaties. The author focuses his attention on the following four topics: (l) the Treaties & third States or third international organizations; (2) the Treaties that provide rights for third States or third international organizations; (3) the Treaties that set out obligations for third States or third international organizations. He pays special attention to the most-favored-nation clause. The author gives interpretations of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969 & the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States & International Organizations or between International Organizations 1986. References. Adapted from the source document.

The author defines the state of law as a typical product of German political culture that corresponds to, but also differs from, both the experience of the English rule of law & that of the French l'Etat-Nation. The author pays particular attention to the issue of the legitimacy of the sate of law. He focuses on two different approaches to this issue in the works of Volker Gerhardt & Ernst Wolfgang Bockenford. Following a critical analysis of their fundamental assumptions the author goes on to divulge the thesis on the necessity of a balance between rights & power in the functioning of modern political systems. 5 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the position of the Constitutional Court in the light of the proposed Constitutional Law on amendments & modifications of the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court that would change some powers of the Constitutional Court. A short historical review shows that the Croatian people belong to the European civilizational setting, as evidenced by numerous documents & statutes that have regulated the rule of law in Croatia. According to the Croatian Constitution, the Constitutional Court is assigned a special place outside the system of the division of power into the legislative, the executive, & the judiciary; it is a special constitutional category that cannot be under the scrutiny of law since it scrutinizes laws. The author goes on to enumerate the changes in the jurisdiction & the operation of the Court envisaged in this new proposal of the Constitutional Law. The author concludes that constitutional courts are the very core of Western democracy & that they protect constitutions as a constantly developing living form. 59 References. Adapted from the source document.

Taking an action by the international community, individual states or their organizations with the aim of protecting citizens in some country from the tyranny of their own authorities has been defined as a humanitarian intervention. According to international law the use of power as an instrument in international relations is, however, prohibited & therefore, any approach to humanitarian intervention is stretched out between the challenges of moral responsibility & limitations of legislature. The subject of discussion in this article is the legislative aspect of humanitarian intervention by force. The research is focused on law & legitimating of humanitarian intervention by force without the United Nations Security Council approval. References. Adapted from the source document.

There are prima facie reasons why political parties should be recognized as public law persons of the Croatian legal system: Political parties play a leading role in the creation & implementation of the state's will. Continental European legal systems distinguish between public & private law: the Croatian Constitution prescribes that political parties are associations with the features typical of public law persons. What requires analysis is the nature & consequences of the public law personality of political parties. Aristotle's theory of justice is still a useful starting point for distinguishing between public & private law, & between public & private law persons. The theory demonstrates that both the political community & the economic market presuppose standards of conduct that regulate interaction of their members. The standards include two essential types of legal acts, namely, statutes, which are fundamental acts of public law, & contracts, which are fundamental acts of private law. The dichotomy of legal acts implies virtually all the criteria that Roman & Continental lawyers have found important for distinguishing public & private law (source, bindingness, hierarchy, interest, subjects, etc). The division of a legal system into private & public law can be positivized in several ways. However, a liberal, democratic, & social legal system ought to meet the following principles, which guarantee the public law status of political parties: explicit recognition of the public law personality; justiciability; constitutionality; transparency; democracy; solidarity. The principles are followed by the Draft Bill on Political Parties, which was prepared by the Croatian Law Center in May 2002 & was adopted, with some changes, by the Committee on Constitution, Rules of Order, & Political System of the Croatian Parliament in July 2002. 90 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author outlines some basic conceptual aspects of the legal evolution of international relations after 11 September 2001. First, he briefly sums up the classical international law. Then he goes on to analyze the two dominant approaches to the future development of international law -- the idealistic & the realistic -- by juxtaposing Kant & Hegel. Regarding this debate one should not forget Carl Schmitt, the German legal & political theoretician, since he challenges the universalist presumptions of Kant's project. Schmitt calls into question the function of the rationalization of governance which should be taken over by the constitution, both within & outside the nation-state. The author concludes that the US & other big powers will soon have to return to the path they paved & energetically followed between 1918 & 1945, the path of gradual progress in the historical evolution of international law. 12 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author discusses the political effects of Hungarian electoral law on the formation of the Hungarian parliament. Although the makers of the new electoral law argued that the democratic legislative body should widely & justly represent all interests, points of view, & opinions of the electoral body, electoral law only partly stimulates proportionality. The disproportionate effects of the Hungarian electoral law (system) have been caused, according to the author, by several elements: namely, the prohibitive clause, the application of the electoral number procedure (the Hagenbach-Bischoff method & the Hare method), the two-thirds rule for the distribution of the remaining mandates, & the size of the electoral districts. In the 1990 parliamentary elections, the combined electoral system (that fuses electoral systems belonging to two different types -- the majority & the proportional system) achieved one of its basic political aims; it made great party fragmentation on the parliamentary level impossible, although a comparatively large number of political parties participated in the electoral process. One of the first effects of Hungarian electoral law on the formation of the Hungarian parliament was a reduction of multiparliamentarism. 8 Tables, 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

Based on Paul Feyerabend's distinction between guided & free exchange, the author argues that the accession of the post-communist states to the European Union took the form of the former kind, i.e. the form of communication where all participants in the process voluntarily embrace the meaning of law developed through inter-institutional discourse within the European Union. However, due to the nature of European law which does not apply to the purely internal situations in the Member States, a completely guided exchange between the EU & candidate countries is not possible. The author holds that the unity of, & loyalty towards, the European constitutional framework in an enlarged European Union is best served by the discoursive construction of the meaning of constitutional choices, principles & rules. References. Adapted from the source document.

Due to the historical experience with the Weimar Republic, some abiding constitutional principles have been built into the new Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (its Fundamental Law). Instead of the positivist & formalistic interpretation of democracy of the Weimar Constitution, the authors of the Fundamental Law have opted for the concept of the so-called "militant democracy" i.e. democracy firmly linked to certain values. The concept of "militant democracy" is found in a number of articles in the German Fundamental Law, as a preemptive protection of democracy & a bulwark against extremist positions even before extremist groups break any law. The concept of "militant democracy" is based on the democratic theoretical & sociological-philosophical assumptions by Karl Loewenstein & Karl Mannheim. They have been converted into constitutional practice & incorporated into the Gennan Fundamental Law. However, the instruments of "militant democracy" do not include only the protective measures stipulated by the Constitution but an array of other measures of different intensity. Various instruments of "militant democracy" meant to protect democracy in the FR of Germany are described & include the discursive, penal-legal, administrative & constitutional-legal protection of democracy. The instruments of the protection of democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany are not unique, but some instruments e.g. the possibility of banning political parties are very rare in western democracies. & finally, this situation is briefly compared to the situation in some western & postcommunist democracies. References. Adapted from the source document.

The author deals with the background & the types of human rights in the era of globalization & looks into the proposals of their global institutionalization. His assumption is that the increased legal normatization of global legal regimes on the basis of human rights is in the rational interest of the actors of global law. There are five main ideas: the democratization of all states, the global institutionalization of the direct global civil law, the global federal republic, the international legal solutions &, the global law. The global institutionalization of human rights has been beset by various problems & it requires different approaches which should be seen as mutually corrective. The globally oriented weak publics are a kind of a forum in which individual solutions' relevance must be argued. They affect the globally operating strong publics. The author concludes that the demand for global justice remains a normative measure towards which public education & the public will must be oriented for the sake of the legal formulation of human rights. 45 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the notion of the rule of law from the functional/logical, & not historical standpoint: he starts from the hypothesis that there is the functional logic of managing social behavior & social developments by means of legal norms. This logic, with some preconditions, creates certain institutions. The recognition of members of a society as free & equal is the fundamental assumption. It means that government agencies have the right of independent action but are at the same time also disempowered. This requires the quality of laws to be evaluated on the basis of rationality & normativity. The second part of the text lists the institutional conditions for the rule of law: division of power, legal restrictions of all government institutions & independent judiciary. A guarantee of basic right must be included in these functional elements. The author thinks that our future is to be marked by social pluralization, the need for security & the concurrent processes of globalization, & individualization. These processes are surely going to affect the institutions of the state of law. 43 References. Adapted from the source document.