Suchergebnisse

We bring the most important Opinions in order to show how they have resolved in an unbiased and contradictory manner certain dilemmas about the constituent elements of a state, the conditions for the creation and the recognition of a new state and the effects of its recognition by third states. The document is of vital importance for the process of the constitution of the Croatian state. (SOI : PM: S. 177)

The author's thesis stated in the title is based on the theoretical and practical experience of modern political regimes, particularly on the example of the Croatian postcommunist experience. The author shows how the belated political constitution of the nation has occurred at the expense of political emancipation, pluralization and democratization. Small nations, which did not take part in the creation of modern state and the establishment of the contemporary political and legal culture, suffer from a double setback: they did not have a state of their own and are regarded small, "unhistorical" peoples. The fascination and obsession with the state and the identification of the nation with the state is especially visible in those postcommunist societies that have not gone through the process of political emancipation, i.e. the emancipation of the state. The author points out that the fascination with the state has had serious consequences for the development of democracy since any oppositional opinion and activity or a criticism of the government is disqualified as an attack on the state. This fascination and the identification of the nation and the state is a barrier to state building since it stands in the way of its emancipation and integrational processes. (SOI : PM: S. 109)

The author explores the legitimating roots of the constitutional state. In his opinion, they can be found in moral universalism and national democracy. Both principles undoubtedly belong with the fundamental tenets of the constitution of modern constitutional state. While the former implies the universality of its postulates which are accepted by every constitutional state, the latter represents the restrictive principle of this universalness. The author links these two principles and defines a people as a group of individuals who, regardless of their ethnic, cultural, and religious station may, in line with the principles of freedom and equality of individuals create a successful political community. By the universality of its legality, the defence of human rights and power-sharing, constitutional state is a necessary prerequisite for the prospect of fashioning a people as a group of responsible individuals in establishing universal will. (SOI : PM: S. 16)

Different parts of State territory on land, sea and in the airspace are explained first. The concept of territorial sovereignty is envisaged through principles of its all-inclusiveness and its exclusivity, subject to many exceptions and restrictions imposed either by rules of general international law or by specific treaty obligations that can be assumed by a State. The concept of State servitudes was not assimilated in the practice of international courts and tribunals. Besides, it can be the cause of some misconceptions and confusion in public international law. Within the explanation of territorial boundaries are discussed the so-called natural boundaries such as boundary rivers and lakes and mountain boundaries, as well as the artificial boundaries. Follow explanation of the principle of "uti possidetis, of procedures of fixing boundaries and of special legal scope of boundary treaties in international law. (SOI : PM: S. 74)

The German sociologist and anthropologist Helmuth Plessner has tried to explain the ascent of national-socialism in Germany with the belated formation of the German nation. Not only was it formed later than other West European nations, it was formed in a different manner. While West European nations were formed by countering monarchy with the novel concept of the state as a republic, the German nation was founded on the culture within the Reich which was "a great power devoid of the idea of the state". The author has tried to prove the limited analytical value of Plessner's distinction between the belated and the timely nations by pointing out that culture and tradition are an essential medium for the formation of nations. (SOI : PM: S. 206)

The author analyses the possibilities of a symbiosis of the democratic and the constitutional principle, the expression of the strain between the desire for popular sovereignty and the wish to establish the fundamental rules of political life as permanently as possible. Sieyes' distinction between the constituting and the constituted power can easily link the idea of popular sovereignty with the idea of constitutional state, but cannot answer the question of the constituting power's right to restrain the constituted power. Since its inception, the democratic constitutional state has been a dyadic entity i.e. a democratic and constitutional state. The dilemma is whether to respect the existing constitution and follow the procedure envisioned for amending it, or to make amendments following a revolutionary breach with the existing situation i.e. a direct manoeuvre of the constituting power. The author is in favour of separating what the constituting power may decide upon and what the constituted power may decide upon, since this maintains the balance of both types of powers in a constitutional state. (SOI : PM: S. 28)

The author provides a short review of the most important events in Croatian history during the 20th century. He begins by emphasizing the importance of the burning of the Hungarian flag in Zagreb during the visit of emporer Franz Joseph in 1895. Other turning points of Croatian history in the 20th century were: declaration of the Rijeka resolution, which was the basis of the Croato-Serbian Coalition; the end of long term relations with the Habsburg monarchy, and the entry into a unified state with Serbia; the experience of Serbian domination in that state; the events of the Second World War; and the renewal of Yugoslavia under a communist dictatorship. The author has decided to publish this review as a model for a further historical study of this period. (SOI : CSP: S. 453)