Abstract
One of the key principles of the rule of law is the independence of the judiciary. This idea is usually presented in an abstract and normative way, while its meaning remains highly debatable. Leaving aside formal and legal assumptions, this article focuses on a detailed examination of a specific court – the Polish Constitutional Tribunal (CT) – an institution commonly perceived as one that has recently lost its “independence” in favour of subordination to political power. In order to show that this process is deeply complex and far from being common-sense, we replace the category of “(in)dependence” with the more appropriate notions of relative autonomy and heteronomy. Therefore, the object of a detailed analysis is the biographical trajectories of all CT judges elected between its establishment in 1985 and 2019. Applying geometric analysis to prosopographical data (a collective biography of judges), allows us to demonstrate the multidimensionality and dynamics of the autonomy (or heteronomy) of a key judicial institution and reveal hidden power relations (legal, political, religious, etc.) that go beyond the common-sense “politicization of law”.
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Annex. Table.1.
|
Form of Capital |
Variable |
Categories |
Axis 1 |
Axis 2 |
N |
|
Academic capital |
Title |
Professor |
8.3 |
1.0 |
32 |
|
Habilitation |
0.1 |
0.8 |
18 |
||
|
PhD |
5.8 |
1.2 |
5 |
||
|
MA |
10.6 |
9.5 |
15 |
||
|
total |
24.8 |
12.5 |
70 |
||
|
University |
low |
0.3 |
0.1 |
21 |
|
|
med |
0.0 |
1.1 |
13 |
||
|
top |
0.1 |
0.2 |
36 |
||
|
total |
0.4 |
1.4 |
70 |
||
|
International academic experience |
yes |
7.2 |
0.2 |
17 |
|
|
no |
2.3 |
0.1 |
53 |
||
|
total |
9.5 |
0.3 |
70 |
||
|
Legal professional capital |
Advocate |
yes |
2.4 |
4.3 |
6 |
|
no |
0.2 |
0.4 |
64 |
||
|
total |
2.6 |
4.7 |
70 |
||
|
Legal counsel |
yes |
0 |
0.1 |
6 |
|
|
no |
0.2 |
1.3 |
64 |
||
|
total |
0.2 |
1.4 |
70 |
||
|
Judge (lower court judge) |
yes |
14.2 |
9.4 |
18 |
|
|
no |
4.9 |
3.3 |
52 |
||
|
total |
19.1 |
12.7 |
70 |
||
|
Prosecutor |
yes |
4.7 |
11.8 |
5 |
|
|
no |
0.4 |
0.9 |
65 |
||
|
total |
5.1 |
12.7 |
70 |
||
|
Additional legal capital |
Supreme Court and Administration Supreme Court |
yes |
7.5 |
16.7 |
11 |
|
no |
1.4 |
3.1 |
59 |
||
|
total |
8.9 |
19.8 |
70 |
||
|
Tribunal of State (TS) |
yes |
2.2 |
0.2 |
6 |
|
|
no |
0.2 |
0 |
64 |
||
|
total |
2.4 |
0.2 |
70 |
||
|
Constitutional Court office and Ombudsman office |
yes |
5.9 |
5.7 |
6 |
|
|
no |
0.5 |
0.5 |
64 |
||
|
total |
6.4 |
6.2 |
70 |
||
|
Bureaucratic and political capital |
Parliament |
yes |
0.1 |
4.8 |
17 |
|
no |
0 |
1.5 |
53 |
||
|
total |
0.1 |
6.3 |
70 |
||
|
Government administration |
yes |
3.1 |
2.5 |
20 |
|
|
no |
1.3 |
1.0 |
50 |
||
|
total |
4.4 |
3.5 |
70 |
||
|
International Institution expert |
yes |
4.3 |
4.6 |
6 |
|
|
no |
0.4 |
0.4 |
64 |
||
|
total |
4.7 |
5.0 |
70 |
||
|
Expert capital |
Parliament expert |
yes |
1.4 |
2.4 |
7 |
|
no |
0.2 |
0.3 |
63 |
||
|
total |
1.6 |
2.7 |
70 |
||
|
Government expert |
yes |
4.6 |
0.4 |
10 |
|
|
no |
0.8 |
0.1 |
60 |
||
|
total |
5.4 |
0.5 |
70 |
||
|
Legislation expert |
yes |
2.9 |
6.5 |
24 |
|
|
no |
1.5 |
3.4 |
46 |
||
|
total |
4.4 |
9.9 |
70 |
Bold: variables > average contribution (100/16=6.3); Italics: modalities > average contribution (100/35=2.86)
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Socio-Legal Perspectives on the Rule of Law
- Socio-legal perspectives on the rule of law: Introduction to the issue focus
- The access to justice gap and the rule of law crisis in Poland
- The Rule of Law as a Postcolonial Relic: The Narrative of the Polish Right
- Politics, Religion and Law
- Empirical Research on the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. A Short Report on the State of the Art in Political Science
- Rezensionen
- Kristina Simion, Rule of law intermediaries. Brokering influence in Myanmar, Cambridge Studies in Law and Society. Cambridge University Press. 2021, 280 S., ISBN: 9781108830867, £85.00
- Helmut Philipp Aust & Esra Demir-Gürsel (2021) The European Court of Human Rights. Current Challenges in Historical Perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
- Ulrike Schultz/Gisela Shaw/Margaret Thornton/Rosemary Auchmuty (Hrsg.): Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy, Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Oxfort et al.: Hart Publishing, 2021, 592 S., ISBN 978-1509923113. £ 108,–
- Carsten Stahn, Justice as Message: Expressivist Foundations of International Criminal Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, ISBN: 978-0198864189, 480 Seiten, 115 Euro
- Jiří Přibáň, Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2020, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-78990-517-5 (hardback), 185 £
- Antwort auf Hubert Rottleuthner
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Socio-Legal Perspectives on the Rule of Law
- Socio-legal perspectives on the rule of law: Introduction to the issue focus
- The access to justice gap and the rule of law crisis in Poland
- The Rule of Law as a Postcolonial Relic: The Narrative of the Polish Right
- Politics, Religion and Law
- Empirical Research on the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. A Short Report on the State of the Art in Political Science
- Rezensionen
- Kristina Simion, Rule of law intermediaries. Brokering influence in Myanmar, Cambridge Studies in Law and Society. Cambridge University Press. 2021, 280 S., ISBN: 9781108830867, £85.00
- Helmut Philipp Aust & Esra Demir-Gürsel (2021) The European Court of Human Rights. Current Challenges in Historical Perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
- Ulrike Schultz/Gisela Shaw/Margaret Thornton/Rosemary Auchmuty (Hrsg.): Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy, Oñati International Series in Law and Society, Oxfort et al.: Hart Publishing, 2021, 592 S., ISBN 978-1509923113. £ 108,–
- Carsten Stahn, Justice as Message: Expressivist Foundations of International Criminal Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, ISBN: 978-0198864189, 480 Seiten, 115 Euro
- Jiří Přibáň, Research Handbook on the Sociology of Law, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2020, 416 pages, ISBN 978-1-78990-517-5 (hardback), 185 £
- Antwort auf Hubert Rottleuthner