ABSTRACT

This book addresses the current crisis that threatens the rule of law and has led to the need for its adjustment as normative concept, legal principle and pragmatic guideline for the behaviour of political players. Rule of law is a pillar of the constitutional orders and a key principle of national, international and EU law. Yet, rule of law is subject to pressure for change in the face of emergency, crisis and transition. This book explores how constitutional crisis, emergency constitutionalism and constitutional polycrisis assert pressures for the transformation of rule of law and thus produce a state of flux. It examines the rule of law from the viewpoint of constitutional imaginaries, memory politics and identity politics. It critically assesses the responses given by the EU and its member states to the current crisis. The work also provides an analysis of the most important challenges to rule of law stemming from the performance of constitutional courts, including the risks of judicial activism, politicization of the courts and judicialization of politics. The book will be an invaluable resource for researchers, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of Constitutional Law and Political Science.

chapter |18 pages

Introduction

part I|46 pages

Rule of Law, Emergency Constitutionalism and Constitutional Polycrisis

part II|64 pages

Rule of Law as Dynamic Concept Dependent on Constitutional Imaginaries, Memory Politics and Identity Politics

chapter 3|20 pages

Imaginary of the rule of law as a force of societal transition

Central and East European lessons from European (dis)integration

chapter 5|21 pages

Rule of law, populism and “state–religion” relations in South-Eastern Europe

Comparative research with particular attention to the Bulgarian post-communist secularism

part III|69 pages

EU Perspectives on the Rule of Law Crisis

part IV|71 pages

Constitutional Courts and Constitutional Review

chapter |5 pages

Conclusion