Date: 2022
Type: Article
Book review : Matej Avbelj and Jernej Letnar Černič : the impact of European Institutions on the rule of law and democracy : Slovenia and beyond (Hart 2020)
European journal of legal studies, 2022, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 267-278
KUKAVICA, Jaka, Book review : Matej Avbelj and Jernej Letnar Černič : the impact of European Institutions on the rule of law and democracy : Slovenia and beyond (Hart 2020), European journal of legal studies, 2022, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 267-278
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/74552
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
Since the early 2010s, the rule of law has been one of the hottest topics in the European Union (EU) – and with good reason. Viktor Orbán began dismantling Hungarian democracy in 2010 and Poland joined the illiberal party soon after. Endless scholarly ink has been spilled on the ever-deteriorating situation in these rogue, 'illiberally democratic' states. Away from the spotlight, Romania and Bulgaria have also had their occasional bouts of constitutional crisis and dialogue with European institutions. But recently, a new player has emerged in the rule of law discourse: Janez Janša, one of the closest allies of Viktor Orbán, has become the Prime Minister of Slovenia. Since then, almost every major Western media outlet has reported on the attacks by the populist far-right Janša government on the rule of law. Many others have also expressed similar concerns, including media freedom organisations, European human rights institutions, international academics, and domestic constitutional scholars.6 Literally within days of Janša being sworn in for the third time as prime minister in March 2020, a monograph, 'The Impact of European Institutions on the Rule of Law and Democracy: Slovenia and Beyond' by Matej Avbelj and Jernej Letnar Černič, was published.7 The book tells a very different story to those above and provides an alternative perspective on the state of democracy and the rule of law in Slovenia. It aims to explain that rule of law problems in Slovenia are not recent, and that Slovenia should have been under the strictest rule of law scrutiny by the EU ever since its accession. The authors argue that the true problems in Slovenia lie in the state capture by leftist post-communist elites that, according to the authors, have ruled and controlled nearly every aspect of Slovenian society – the economy, the judiciary, the media, higher education, and civil society – ever since its independence. This argument is recounted critically and in detail in the section that follows. Subsequently, the review draws attention to some of the most important methodological and logical shortcomings of the argument that the authors posit. In conclusion, it highlights the parallels between the narrative forwarded by the book and the narratives that have been used elsewhere in Europe, particularly in Poland, to justify blatant encroachments upon the rule of law.
Additional information:
Published online: 03 August 2022
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/74552
Full-text via DOI: 10.2924/EJLS.2022.008
ISSN: 1973-2937
External link: https://ejls.eui.eu/
Publisher: European University Institute
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