Pravni zapisi

TAKING WOMEN’S RIGHTS SERIOUSLY: WOMEN’S STRUGGLE FOR A NEW “SOCIAL CONTRACT” IN POLAND

Anna Śledzińska-Simon — 2024-07-09

The article traces the trajectory of the struggle for woman’s rights in Poland from 1989 to the present. It argues that the democratic transition successfully shaped the foundations of a liberal regime, but was accompanied from the outset by an agreement between the government and the Catholic Church that limited reproductive rights and led to a retraditionalization of gender roles. This context is crucial to understanding the Constitutional Tribunal’s interpretation of the constitution, which reinforced a kind of sexual contract, seeking to domesticate women. The change of government in 2015 significantly weakened guarantees of the rule of law and further curtailed reproductive rights, prompting mass protests and the mobilization of democratic opposition. This article posits that the overthrow of the illiberal regime in the recent parliamentary elections marks the beginning of a new social contract in Poland, in which woman’s rights are taken seriously.

FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF THE DOMINANT POLITICAL-PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTIONS OF JUSTICE

Dragica Vujadinović — 2024-07-09

The aim of this article is to explore prevalent absence of conceptions of gender justice within mainstream political theories and to point out the crucial importance of gender justice for theories of justice and for practicing justice. The first part explains Aristotle’s theory of justice and offers the feminist critique. Plato’s theory of justice explained in Republic, with ideas about philosopher queens, is examined in the second part. The third part discusses premodern and some contemporary theories of justice that preserve patriarchal patterns of devaluating women within a private–public dichotomy, while the fourth part presents the mainstream and feminist theories of justice that overcome a dominant pattern and affirm gender justice in a converging manner. The concluding remarks sum up the crucial role of gender justice for benchmarking further philosophizing on justice.

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY DOCTRINE: ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Milica V. Matijevic — 2024-07-09

The substantive equality doctrine is an important aspect of legal scholarship and judicial practice built around the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. The doctrine departs from the critique of the “formal approach to equality” and places great expectations on the legislator and the courts vis-à-vis its equality aspirations, which encompass objectives related to both redistribution and recognition. The paper examines the relationship between its basic postulates, its equality goals, and the law as its main method. The author charts the develop- mental trajectory of the doctrine, provides an overview of its premises, and an analysis of its objectives. The author concludes that the proponents of the substantive equality doctrine rightly point to deeper societal structures as the source of patterned inequalities, yet they are mistaken in their belief that the subtle and complex forms of discrimination can be effectively addressed through anti-discrimination law.

WHO WORKS MORE, AND WHO WORKS SMARTER? COMPARING JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE IN EUROPE

Bojan Spaić — 2024-07-09

This paper (1) analyzes the existing theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between the judicial performance and judicial efficiency, (2) compares the judicial performances in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Austria, and Norway for the year 2020, (3) compares the judicial performances in different instances in Serbia for the same year, and (4) examines the performance standards that are set by law for Serbian judges. The authors conclude that in 2020 Serbian judges resolved more cases in all instances (there is a higher number of resolved cases per judge only in Austria, in first instance), while at the same time falling short of the caseload standards set in Serbian law. Also, the study found excessive difference in the performance of Serbian courts, but that does not affect the evaluation of judg- es, since 485 evaluated judges out of 505 got the rating “exceptionally successfully performs the function of judge” for the year 2020.

THE OVERDEPENDENCE OF AFRICAN COURTS AND BUSINESSES ON ENGLISH LAW AND FORUM: THE NEGATIVE REPERCUSSIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN LEGAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

Williams Chima Iheme — 2024-07-09

The uncritical transplantation of English law by Anglophone-African legislators and judges, and their failure to sufficiently adapt English legal concepts to suit the idiosyncratic socioeconomic conditions in Africa, arguably contribute to the perpetuation of English law’s hegemony therein. It is argued that the overdependence on English law and courts by African businesses in resolving contractual disputes is not necessarily due to any alleged stellar qualities of the former, but largely due to the over-marketing of the English legal system’s competence by its apologists. The analysis uses piquant examples to elicit some adverse effects of using/overreliance on the English law and forum by African businesses in resolving contractual disputes. To reposition from the lengthened shadow of English law, Anglophone African legislators, judges and legal scholars, must craft autochthonous legal processes that suit Africa’s tastes and socioeconomic milieu.

NEEDS OVER RIGHTS: THE RIGHT TO HEALTH IN STATE SOCIALIST HUNGARY AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

Marton Varju — 2024-07-09

State socialist Hungary undertook historically unparalleled action to sat- isfy the health needs of its population. To support its efforts, it recognized in its constitution the protection of health as an essential state task and, later, a right to health. Although formulated as a right of citizens, the right to health was not available to enfranchise the individual. Instead, it expressed common social needs, as well as the responsibility and the institutional obligation of the socialist state to take care of those needs. This emphasis on needs over individual rights had a crucial impact on the implementation of the right to health. Contemporary and retrospective policy and sociological analyses reveal that the healthcare system in state socialist Hungary left the individual exposed to institutional and professional interests within the health system, and their vulnerability as a patient was regularly exploited.

COMMUNICATING CONFIDENCE: SUSPENDED SENTENCES AS COMMUNICATIVE PUNISHMENT

Mojca Plesnicar — 2024-07-09

The article identifies a distinctive model of suspended sentences that exists in contemporary Serbia and Slovenia. By employing Antony Duff’s notion of ‘communicative punishment’, the article suggests that suspended sentences are a robust and comprehensive penal instrument which promotes an inclusive, dialogic, and non-stigmatizing approach to criminal offenders. To demonstrate this, the article contrasts Duff’s theory with three key domains of suspended sentences in the two countries: (a) philosophical and theoretical commitments, (b) substantive and procedural law and (c) execution of sanctions. The article concludes by emphasizing the pronounced capacity of these sentences to communicate confidence and trust of the state that the convicted person will not reoffend – despite a non-custodial sanction. Finally, the article proposes modest legal modifications which pertain to the court’s ability to determine relevant facts and communicate better with the offender.

DEPARTMENTS AND TREATMENT GROUPS AT PENITENTIARY FACILITIES IN SERBIA AND EVALUATION OF PRISON LIFE QUALITY

Ljeposava Ilijić — 2024-07-09

The paper addresses the issues pertinent to the relationship between the prison social climate and departments as well as treatment groups at penitentiary facilities (MQPL survey). The focal objective of this paper is to investigate potential differences in how the prison life quality is perceived by persons who reside in different departments and treatment groups. A sample of 616 convicted adult persons was used for this research, which was conducted in 2022. The respondents were serving a prison sentence at penitentiary facilities in Niš, Sremska Mitrovica, Požarevac– Zabela, Belgrade, and the Penitentiary facility for Women in Požarevac. Analysis of variance and descriptive statistics were used. There is a clear pattern in the results of the analysis, namely that person in semi-opened departments rate the quality of prison life significantly better than persons in closed departments. The authors link the obtained results with prison deprivation, risk assessment, and opportunities for improving the prison social climate.

APPROACHING QUIET QUITTING FROM THE LABOR LAW PERSPECTIVE: A CASE STUDY OF HUNGARIAN AND SERBIAN LEGISLATION

Bernadett Dr. Solymosi-Szekeres — 2024-07-09

The paper explores the quiet quitting phenomenon, its origin, and evolution, by applying theoretical, legal normative, and comparative methods. It particularly examines how quiet quitting can be understood through the lens of labor law, by analyzing the provisions of Hungarian and Serbian labor legislation dealing with worker’s rights and duties. Quiet quitting has been considered workers’ psychological response to hustle culture and always-on expectations. It is a specific self-protection mechanism in a digitalized world of work, wherein the worker fulfills only the minimum work duties, without going above and beyond the employment contract. Therefore, it is hard to argue for the employment contract breach whereas approaching from an organizational management perspective is much more adequate, while also applying the decent work approach.