Subordination, conformity and alignment

Can a judiciary operating in an autocratic political system be expected to defend the rule of law? What are the implications of the relative autonomy of the judges in such an environment? The main reason why judges are unable to affirm the values of the rule of law is that several conditions of res...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Zoltán Fleck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2025-04-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1896
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849337895184236544
author Zoltán Fleck
author_facet Zoltán Fleck
author_sort Zoltán Fleck
collection DOAJ
description Can a judiciary operating in an autocratic political system be expected to defend the rule of law? What are the implications of the relative autonomy of the judges in such an environment? The main reason why judges are unable to affirm the values of the rule of law is that several conditions of resistance are lacking. Organizational, structural and cultural factors all play a role. The lack of professional solidarity is particularly important. The display of collective power by judges requires particular effort and is not supported by any tradition. The Hungarian political regime has severely eroded the internal culture of the judiciary in its post-2010 reforms of the judiciary. As a result, it is clear that the judicial system, which has received special European attention, cannot be expected to halt the deterioration of the rule of law. An understanding of the culture of subordination and conformity can contribute not only to the analysis of autocratic regimes but also to the reflection on the reconstruction of the rule of law.  
format Article
id doaj-art-3da61b3a93c744d6b3c1e8a263fb71ad
institution Kabale University
issn 2079-5971
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
record_format Article
series Oñati Socio-Legal Series
spelling doaj-art-3da61b3a93c744d6b3c1e8a263fb71ad2025-08-20T03:44:33ZengOñati International Institute for the Sociology of LawOñati Socio-Legal Series2079-59712025-04-0115210.35295/osls.iisl.1896Subordination, conformity and alignmentZoltán Fleck0ELTE Can a judiciary operating in an autocratic political system be expected to defend the rule of law? What are the implications of the relative autonomy of the judges in such an environment? The main reason why judges are unable to affirm the values of the rule of law is that several conditions of resistance are lacking. Organizational, structural and cultural factors all play a role. The lack of professional solidarity is particularly important. The display of collective power by judges requires particular effort and is not supported by any tradition. The Hungarian political regime has severely eroded the internal culture of the judiciary in its post-2010 reforms of the judiciary. As a result, it is clear that the judicial system, which has received special European attention, cannot be expected to halt the deterioration of the rule of law. An understanding of the culture of subordination and conformity can contribute not only to the analysis of autocratic regimes but also to the reflection on the reconstruction of the rule of law.   https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1896Rule of lawjudiciaryjudicial integrationlegal professionLegal Culture
spellingShingle Zoltán Fleck
Subordination, conformity and alignment
Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Rule of law
judiciary
judicial integration
legal profession
Legal Culture
title Subordination, conformity and alignment
title_full Subordination, conformity and alignment
title_fullStr Subordination, conformity and alignment
title_full_unstemmed Subordination, conformity and alignment
title_short Subordination, conformity and alignment
title_sort subordination conformity and alignment
topic Rule of law
judiciary
judicial integration
legal profession
Legal Culture
url https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1896
work_keys_str_mv AT zoltanfleck subordinationconformityandalignment