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Judicial Reforms in Eastern Europe: Ensuring the Right to a Fair Trial or an Attack on the Independence of the Judiciary?

Summary: 1. Introduction. The Right to a Fair Trial and Independence of the Judiciary. – 2. Elements of Judicial Independence. – 3. Judicial Reforms in Eastern Europe: General Overview. – 3.1 Serbia. – 3.2 Northern Macedonia. – 3.3 Poland. – 3.4 Hungary. – 3.5 Romania. – 3.6 Moldova. – 3.7 Ukraine. – 4. Common Features of the Analysed Judicial Reforms in the Countries of Eastern Europe. – 5. Conclusions.

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Abstract

The right to a fair trial is one of the essential elements of the rule of law – a fundamental value of the modern constitutional state. Among the systems of institutional, organisational, and substantive guarantees for ensuring this right, which stem from the European Court of Human Rights case law, there is ‘a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law’. This requirement is organically linked to the principle of the separation of powers, which is a central tenet of constitutionalism and provides for the functioning of the judiciary as a separate, independent branch of power. Therefore, any changes in the judicial systems of modern constitutional states, or, moreover, judicial reforms, should not only avoid contradicting these principles but, on the contrary, should be aimed at ensuring the right to a fair trial. However, the experience of such reforms in a number of Eastern European countries, despite the declaration of their perfectly legitimate and positive goals, raises questions about their true direction. As a result, not only does the institutional mechanism for the protection of human rights (which is the immediate goal of proclaiming the right to a fair trial) suffer, but also the constitutional systems of the countries concerned become unbalanced and unable to respond adequately to political challenges. This paper examines the essence of judicial reforms in a number of Eastern European countries (Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine) and analyses them in terms of their impact on ensuring the right to a fair trial and the functioning of constitutional systems

About Authors

CONTRIBUTOR

The author contributed solely to the intellectual discussion underlying this paper, case-law exploration, writing and editing, and accepts responsibility for the content and interpretation.

Dr. Olena Boryslavska 
is a professor of the Department of Constitutional Law in Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine), Member of the Commission on Legal Reform, created by the President of Ukraine (since 29 October 2020). 

olenabor@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8338-0966
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to express their gratitude to the reviewers for their help and to the English editor, Sarah White.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The author has declared that no conflict of interest or competing interests exist

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Судова реформа у Східній Європі: забезпечення права на справедливий суд або напад на незалежність судової влади?

Бориславська Олена доктор юридичних наук, професор кафедри конституційного права,Львівський національний університет імені Івана Франка, Україна

Анотація Право на справедливий суд є одним із найважливіших елементів верховенства права - фундаментальної цінності сучасної конституційної держави. Серед систем інституціональних, організаційних та матеріальних гарантій забезпечення цього права, що випливають із практики Європейського суду з прав людини, існує «справедливий та публічний розгляд у незалежному та неупередженому суді, створеному законом». Ця вимога органічно пов'язана з принципом поділу влади, який є центральним принципом конституціоналізму та передбачає функціонування судової влади як окремої, незалежної гілки влади. Отже, будь-які зміни в судовій системі сучасних конституційних держав, або, тим більше, судові реформи, повинні не лише уникати суперечності цим принципам, а, навпаки, повинні бути спрямовані на забезпечення права на справедливий суд. Однак досвід таких реформ у ряді східноєвропейських країн, незважаючи на декларування їх цілком законних і позитивних цілей, викликає питання щодо їх справжнього напрямку. В результаті страждає не тільки інституційний механізм захисту прав людини (що є безпосередньою метою проголошення права на справедливий судовий розгляд), але й конституційні системи відповідних країн стають незбалансованими і не в змозі адекватно реагувати на політичні виклики. У цій роботі розглядається суть судових реформ у низці східноєвропейських країн (Сербія, Північна Македонія, Польща, Угорщина, Румунія, Молдова та Україна) та аналізується з точки зору їх впливу на забезпечення права на справедливий суд та функціонування конституційних систем.

Ключові слова: судова реформа, право на справедливий суд, незалежність судової влади, поділ влади.

Keywords

  • judicial reform, the right to a fair trial, independence of the judiciary, separation of powers

How to cite it?

  • O Boryslavska ‘Judicial Reforms in Eastern Europe: Ensuring the Right to a Fair Trial or an Attack on the Independence of the Judiciary?’ 2021 1(9) Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 122–142.

    DOI: 10.33327/AJEE-18-4.1-a000049