The influence of the judiciary upon the development of the rule of law in post-communist Poland

This work examines the development of the rule of law in post-communist Europe through a case study of Poland (1989-1997) that includes focused comparisons with other Eastern European states. The rule of law is an important subject for study because it is essential for democratic stability. This work shows that Poland and other Central European countries have made significant progress toward the rule of law and this raised two puzzles for investigation: What proximate factors were essential for the development of the rule of law? Why have the Central European countries made more extensive progress in the development of constitutional government than other post-communist states?;Addressing the first question, this work shows that democratization and judicial oversight of the state were essential proximate factors in the development of the rule of law. Democracy, through the separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial independence, and elections, created institutional oversight of the state and the accountability of public officials. Judicial oversight, principally by Constitutional Courts with the power of judicial review, contributed to the rule of law by establishing the legal accountability of state officials, by enforcing the constitution as the supreme prescriptive law, and by protecting human rights. This expansion of judicial authority in post-communist Europe may be viewed as part of an international trend that has alternately been labeled the "judicialization of politics" or the "due process revolution.".;In addressing the second question, this work shows that the Central European countries made greater progress toward the rule of law than those in the Balkans as a result of their more comprehensive democratization and because of their judiciaries' more vigorous oversight of the state. They did so because the process of political change in Central Europe was controlled by democratic movements while in the Balkan countries it was the ex-communists who dominated this process, often to the detriment of democracy, judicial independence, and the rule of law.