Verfassungskonflikte zwischen Politik und Recht in Südosteuropa

This book examines constitutional conflicts between politics and law in the post-socialist transition states of Eastern and South Eastern Europe. These conflicts are analyzed using the examples of Bulgaria and Romania after 1989. In these countries constitutional conflicts have especially affected judicial reforms, several attempts to politically control the judiciary, the fight against political corruption and the autonomy of the constitutional courts.
Based on a systems theory perspective, this study discusses two main questions: Which institutional rules enable or provoke constitutional conflicts between politics and law? And: Which consequences do these conflicts have on democracy and the rule of law? It finally concludes that these conflicts do not inevitably impede but under certain circumstances may advance the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law. Hence, constitutional conflicts can be regarded as “engines of consolidation”.