THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OLD (INTERWAR) AND THE NEW (POST-TRANSITIONAL) CONSTITUTIONS IN CENTRAL EUROPE: CONTINUITY VERSUS DISCONTINUITY?
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE OLD (INTERWAR) AND THE NEW (POST-TRANSITIONAL) CONSTITUTIONS IN CENTRAL EUROPE: CONTINUITY VERSUS DISCONTINUITY?

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the influence of the interwar constitutional history of Central Europe in the context of post-transitional (and later) constitution-making. Czechoslovakia and the second Polish Republic were born in 1918. These countries adopted democratic constitutions in 1920 and 1921, but Poland adopted also a new (more authoritarian) constitution in 1935. Hungary had an unwritten (historical) constitution in the interwar period. The Slovak constitution of 1939 was not a classical democratic document, because it was born under Austrian, Italian and Portugal fascist and authoritarian influences. The main challenge of the post-transitional constitution-making was democratization of Central and Eastern European region. The European integration was also an important goal in these years. The influence of previous constitutional traditions was only limited after 1989, because, at the end of the interwar period, only Czechoslovakia had a democratic constitution. This constitution has influenced the new Czech constitution of 1993. The democratic Poland adopted a new constitution in 1997, but it did not follow the interwar legal traditions. The Hungarian situation after 1989 was similar, but it has changed radically after 2010 elections. The constitutional history and national historical narrative play a very important role in the current Hungarian constitutional system.

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