23 Juni 2022
Governing the Memory of the Present
Putin’s Russia is a global champion of memory laws that fabricate the state’s perennial innocence and glory and make it a criminal offense to diverge from the state-sanctioned historical narratives. The state’s propaganda has also promoted symbols that convey support for or condoning of the Russia’s war, such as the “Z”, “V”, and St. George's ribbon. The emergence of these symbols in the public sphere has put militant democracy provisions existing in many European legal orders into the spotlight, but also propelled lawmakers in some states to adopt new provisions prohibiting the use of such symbols. We discuss the reaction mechanism in Lithuania, Germany, and Poland. Continue reading >>
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17 Dezember 2019
Democratic (Dis)Armament
On 3 September 2019, the Slovak Supreme Court ruled against an MP of the far-right political party Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia. Due to the conviction, Mr Mazurek lost his seat and another candidate of the PPOS took his place. Depending on the factors considered, the case can be seen either as armament or as disarmament of democracy in Slovakia. Continue reading >>
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30 April 2019
A Failed Attempt to Dissolve a Political Party in Slovakia
On 29 April 2019 the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic (SCSR) refused to dissolve the political party Kotleba – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko (People’s Party Our Slovakia). A five-judge administrative senate essentially found insufficient evidence to ban the party and in a press release pointed the finger at the plaintiff, the General Prosecutor’s office, for mishaps in how the case was argued. Continue reading >>
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