Do we want the rule of law? Why (not)?

International workshop about the public demand for the rule of law in Central Europe

Do we want the rule of law? Why (not)?

11 October 2024, 9.00 – 12.30

Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague

room 38 (ground floor) and online via MS Teams

It seems that many citizens of the Visegrad countries have more important things to do than worrying about the rule of law in their countries. In Hungary, Orbán’s national-conservative Fidesz-party that gradually eliminated most of the checks and balances to its power, has been constantly re-elected since 2010 with convincing majorities. In Slovakia, Fico could win an election just a few years after he had to resign due to a scandal over the murder of a journalist. Once back in power, he started copying the Hungarian recipe. In Poland, Kaczyński’s PiS could lead the governments through two consecutive legislative periods and undermined judicial independence, until being ousted by voters in 2023. The Czech Republic seems to be the exception until now, as its populist leaders, Zeman as president and Babiš as Prime Minister, could not achieve a permanent populist turn. Why is Czechia different? Is it different, or is it simply lucky? Is it people or institutions whose role is more essential in upholding the rule of law? Should and could citizens be trained to appreciate the rule of law?

PROGRAMME

8.45 – 9.00: Registration

9.00 – 10.30: The Institutions and Practices Behind the Rule of Law (Chair: Beáta Bakó)

• András Jakab (Paris Lodron University, online): Rule of Law Culture and Rule of Law Erosion
   
• Karolina Kocemba (European University Institute, University of Wrocław, online): Populism, Post-Populists, and Non-State Actors: Transforming the Human Rights Landscape
   
• Marek Antoš (Charles University): Structured for Stability, Favoured by Fortune: How Both Institutional Design and Luck Shield the Czech Republic from Populism
   
• Max Steuer (O.P. Jindal Global University, Comenius University, online): Conceptual Minimalism as a Precursor for De-democratization: The Case of Slovakia

Discussion

10.30 – 10.50: Coffee break

10.50 – 12.20: The People, its Populists and the Rule of Law (Chair: Marek Antoš)

• Adam Czarnota (Riga Graduate School of Law, online): Democracy and (anti)populist rule of law in Poland
   
• Peter Čuroš (Polish Academy of Sciences): The Spectre of Backsliding
   
• Balázs Fekete (Eötvös Loránd University, HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences): Towards the Popular Understanding of the Rule of Law in Hungary. Quantitative and Qualitative Insights
   
• Beáta Bakó (Charles University): Is the Ideal Government Limited or Sovereign? Czech and Hungarian Public Opinion on Democracy and the Rule of Law
   

Discussion

Program for download

The workshop will be held in a hybrid format, both on-site and online participants are encouraged to join the discussion.

Registration: ilona.smotlachova@prf.cuni.cz.
Please also indicate if you intend to attend in person or online.

Organiser: Beáta Bakó, postdoc researcher, Institute for the Interregional Study of Constitutionalism, Charles University, Faculty of Law.

The workshop is part of the project „MSCA Fellowships CZ – UK2” (reg. n. CZ.02.01.01/00/22_010/0008115), supported by the Programme Johannes Amos Comenius.