Area F

Legal theoretical, philosophical and political frameworks

Panel F1: New constitutional solutions in Central European constitutions and in practice in the 1920s

Dramatic state and political changes initiated in the autumn of 1918 led to a number of new constitutional laws, at first often formulated as temporary ones, later as long-term ones. These new constitutions brought with them many new constitutional law solutions which often had no direct predecessors on the territories of Central European countries. Many solutions were – with various adaptations – inspired by the constitutions of other countries, typically republican ones, or from older proposals, scholarly and political publications, and political programmes. In addition to general considerations on whether to have a republic or maintain a monarchy, there was the important topic of looking for ways of transforming the legal competences of a hereditary head of state to a republican system. Another important question that emerged was the one of the mutual relationship between the government and the parliament, and possibly the question of maintaining, and the type of election for, the upper chamber. The claims for democratization resulted in efforts towards the stronger participation of citizens in the decision-making process (e.g., citizens’ initiative, referendum). Also the judicial decisions underwent new developments. This section is open especially for legal history, history and political science.

Ivan Halász – Václav Pavlíček (chair)

Panel F2: Law through the perspective of Central European legal theory and legal philosophy of the 1920s

For legal theory and philosophy, the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was the era of emancipation and of finding ways out of natural law thinking, and this manifested itself in various new approaches. Social development after World War One was a huge impulse mainly for rational legal concepts. The influence of the then German legal theory saw a favourable response with many Czech philosophers and legal theoreticians who found a suitable institutional background with the establishment of new Czech universities. However, new directions in legal theory were not accepted univocally and many looked at them with criticism. Tensions between various theoretical legal approaches became a long-term part of the inter-war jurisprudence in Czechoslovakia and Central Europe. This section will primarily focus on these topics and other questions connected with the Czech and Central European reception of Kantian and neo-Kantian philosophy in the philosophy of the 1920s and legal philosophy, normative legal theory and its critique in Czechoslovakia and Central Europe at that time, and also the position of the Brno school of legal theory and its influence on formation of the new Czechoslovak legislation.

Tatiana Machalová (chair)