Administrative and Court Reform in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract:   The pre-accession programmes of the European Union and the candidate countries have focused heavily on law reform. Only relatively recently, it was recognised that successful administrative and court reform would be just as necessary in order to achieve the desired goals, namely that the candidates would eventually be able to take on their obligations as new members of the Union. Unfortunately, it has now become evident that it is easier to write new laws than to get them properly applied in every day practice. This article describes a number of cases to illustrate the problem. It shows that administrators and judges in Central and Eastern Europe have significant difficulties with Western working methods, specifically the application of international norms in the national legal order, due process and procedural safeguards, treatment of precedents, resolution of ambiguities and lacunae in the law, etc., which may in turn result in unjust and sometimes absurd application of laws. These difficulties cannot be resolved merely by organising ever more training courses and other theoretical programmes. The author claims that the majority of efforts promoting administrative and court reform applied so far have rendered only meager results. Therefore, additional and more creative measures have to be designed and implemented and have to be continued for years beyond accession of most of these countries to the EU in 2004. Otherwise, rule of law deserving its name will not materialise in the new Member States. The author concludes by offering some ideas based on many years of experience in the region.     

Crime in Central and Eastern European Countries in the Enlarged Europe

An enlarged European Union not only means more territory and a greater population, but also more crimes and perpetrators of crimes. The European integration brings a new challenge to criminology. Comparison of crime statistics across countries is still one of the most difficult methodological problems in criminological analyses. Countries differ in respect of their penal systems and penal policies. Reporting and statistical systems are also different. How, then, can one compare crime between European countries? Can one say where it is safer or where the police work better? Can one determine what the manner of data collection should be so that it reflects reality accurately? This article concentrates on a representation of some trends of crime in Central and Eastern European countries. A main source of information about crime are official crime statistics collected according to the methodological rules worked out by the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics. In the case of homicide, police data are confronted with vital statistics gathered by the World Heath Organization (WHO). The statistics on assault and robbery were compared, as much as possible, with the victimization data from the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS). The socio-economic context of the crime, the main circumstances of the crime statistics, which affected the interpretation of the crime trends for Central and Eastern European Countries, is presented.     

Minority Rights and the Roma of Central and Eastern Europe

Since 1990, minority rights have enjoyed an extraordinary renaissancein Europe. Ironically, this has occurred at precisely the timewhen Europe's largest ethnic minority, the Roma, has faced anunprecedented crisis, particularly in post-Communist states.This article explores the various problems facing the Roma inCentral and Eastern Europe and considers why minority rightsregimes have had a marginal impact on the situation confrontingthis minority. In addition, the article reflects on whethercurrent conceptions of minority rights are well suited to suchan extraordinarily heterogeneous ‘people’ as theRoma, many of whom have lost the cultural and linguistic featuresthat formerly distinguished them as a minority.     

Environmental liability reform and privatization in Central and Eastern Europe

The legacy of severe environmental degradation inherited by the new Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies requires liability reform to aid the cleanup of existing pollution sources and create incentives for future environmental risk reduction. The paper analyzes a host of liability approaches to meet these goals, given economic and institutional characteristics specific to the CEE nations, and explores the impact of environmental liability rules on privatization and foreign investment. A principal conclusion of the analysis is that, for a host of efficiency-based reasons, liability should not be retroactively applied to the new owners of privatized firms. Also, the paper advocates the use of national liability funds to finance the cost of existing liabilities, while highlighting dangers associated with their use. In addition to the desirability of alternative privatization mechanisms, the paper also analyzes altemative liability rules to govern prospective environmental hazards.     

中东欧国家政治-行政体制的制度背景

自从苏联解体之后,中东欧国家面临着政治行政体制转型的多样选择。基于新制度主义的理论基础,论文旨在探析中东欧国家政治行政体制的改革背景。论文指出,在新制度主义理论视角下,出于文化和历史对政府结构的影响,中东欧各国家的改革进程、转型路径和制度体系存在着巨大的差异性。在分析了中东欧各国政治行政体制差异的文化根源和因此产生的特殊转型路径,以及各国政治行政体系改革模式之后,论文指出,中东欧国家政治行政体系转型并不存在唯一的最优解决方案,成功的改革模式可以借鉴但不能复制。     

The potential for the growth of organized crime in Central and Eastern Europe

Conclusions There is a clear potential for growth in organized crime in Central and Eastern Europe. The criminal justice system in most countries in the region is undergoing a crisis in morale, resources and direction, sapping its possibility to respond effectively. One of the fears in Western Europe is that organized crime will begin to cross the borders from the East. So far, this appears to have occurred only on a small scale, primarily in connection with organized theft, drug-trafficking and the illegal sale of firearms. The slow pace of this development may be due to the lack of suitable international contacts, and to the fact that sufficient profits appear to be available in the domestic market. Furthermore, operating in the West has drawbacks and dangers: it is more expensive, there may be competition from local organized crime, and the police may be more efficient.The danger posed by organized crime in Central and Eastern Europe nonetheless remains, both to the countries themselves and to the West. This has already been recognized, as shown by the growing network of bilateral and multilateral agreements, as well as by the strengthening of informal contacts among the police. Many Western European countries are providing technical assistance to Central and Eastern Europe in the form of training, consultation and the exchange of information. Sadly, organized crime control even in the West has lagged behind organized crime; both East and West have a long way to go.Director of the Helsinki Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (Heuni), Turunlinnantie 8, Helsinki, Finland. Parts of this article have previously appeared inCriminal Justice International (vol. 9, no. 2, 1993, pp. 11–18).     

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: report identifies human rights gaps

Criminalization and stigmatization of the high-risk behaviours that promote the spread of HIV are fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and placing millions of people at risk. This is one of the findings of a report from the United Nations Development Programme released in February 2004. The report, which is the first comprehensive profile of the epidemic in the 28 countries of the region, includes a significant focus on human rights issues.     

Correction to: Institutions and corporate financial distress in Central and Eastern Europe

European Journal of Law and Economics -     

On the finance-growth nexus: additional evidence from Central and Eastern Europe countries

We investigate the finance-growth nexus for a sample of thirteen transition economies over the period 1995–2007 using panel cointegration tests and a panel error-correction model. By combining results for models with alternative dependent variables and several measures of financial development, we find that the relationship between financial deepening and real growth is largely positive in the long-run, and it develops its full potential when funds are directed towards private enterprises. In the short-run, however, the growth effects of an expansion of financial markets are weaker and negative, supporting the idea that financial development has also a dark side, as it exacerbates fragility and destabilizes the economy through recurrent crises.     

Collaborative innovation in emerging innovation systems: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe

The Journal of Technology Transfer - Firms often lack competences and capabilities for creation and commercialization of innovations. The solution to this problem lies in sharing or acquisition of...     

U.S. MBA and Management Training Programs in Central and Eastern Europe

The transfer of the American model of management education to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is the subject of this paper. It specifically looks at the impact of a U.S. government-funded program to promote linkages between U.S. business schools and institutions in the CEE region. In 1990, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was authorized by the Congress to develop a program to assist the countries of the CEE region in their transition from command to market economies. This would consist of training and education in economics and management in nine countries from the Baltic states in the north to Albania in the south. This program, known as the Management Training and Economics Education Project (MTEEP) would include twelve grants amounting to nearly $100 million to eleven U.S. universities that would partner with 14 local institutions of higher education. The paper does not purport to contribute to theoretical literature, but rather to chronicle a trend in technology transfer. The author maintains that over a 10-year period MTEEP has contributed to a significant transfer of educational technology in the form of management education, especially in the establishment of MBA and executive MBA programs as well as management training programs.     

Regional Innovation Systems in Central and Eastern Europe: Determinants, Organizers and Alignments

While proximity was an asset in socialism, during the post-socialist period the development of the region as a locus of innovation is essential for restructuring and sustainable growth of economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The paper analyzes the factors that determine the emergence of regional innovation systems in CEE. Based on a conceptual model of regional innovation system we explore four determinants: national, sectoral, micro and regional. These determinants operate as conditional advantages or disadvantages that require network organizers and network alignment in order to be turned into real advantages. The paper points to the important role of network organizers for enhancing regional innovation in the post-socialist economies. Policy implications of the model suggest that the emphasis should be on functions and programs rather than on new organizations.     

Cybercrimes in the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe: current status and key drivers

Some economies in the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe (FSU&CEE) are known as cybercrime hotspots. FSU&CEE economies have shown complex and varied responses to cybercrimes due partly to the differential incentives and pressures they face. This study builds upon literatures on white-collar crime, institutional theory and international relations (IR)/international political economy (IPE) perspectives to examine the low rates of prosecution and conviction of suspected cybercriminals in some economies in the FSU&CEE and variation in such rates across these economies. The findings indicate that cybercrime cases are more likely to be prosecuted and sanctions are imposed in economies that are characterized by a higher degree of cooperation and integration with the West. Cybercriminals are less likely to be jurisdictionally shielded in such economies. Our findings also suggest that a high degree of cooperation and integration with the West would lead to access to resources to enhance system capacity and law enforcement performance to fight cybercrimes.     

The Regulation of Media Markets in selected EU Accession States in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract:   This article examines the phenomenon of policy transfer in the EU accession countries of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. When formulating media laws in the early 1990s, these countries were presented with models put forth by advisors from the US and EU Member States. Advisors proposed models based upon their own domestic policy and/or organisation agendas. A resulting 'battle of the models' can be observed with different experts and actors lobbying for the adoption of contrasting regulatory models. Underlying this were often political, economic and trade interests. In particular, 'Western' governments were interested in guaranteeing the opening of new markets, and the stability of these new media markets for Western capital investment, as well as wider political concerns of consolidating democracy in Europe. Interest groups and NGOs wished to transfer their ideas to Eastern Europe often in advocacy of their own agendas in an enlarged Europe.     

Accountability in Governance: The Challenge of Implementing the Aarhus Convention in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The signing of the 1998 UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) radically extended international law on transparency and accountability in environmental governance. For the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) that have now ratified, the Convention could prompt profound democratic changes. This article, based on the authors' experiences, analyses changing cultures of governance in EECCA countries. The first so-called pillar of access to information sets in place rights that directly contradict the fundamental secrecy of the former Soviet Union countries. Some officials' reluctance to share environmental information may also be linked to the economic duress of the current transition period, where information may be an official's only asset. The second pillar of public participation also poses difficulties for officials for whom the highest praise is to be considered a professional. In their belief that no one knows better than they do, they are reluctant to spend time and resources to make decision-making transparent and to involve the public. The third pillar of access to justice breaks new ground for post-socialist countries still developing their judicial systems. Though several highly sophisticated NGOs have been successful in using courts, it remains difficult for an ordinary EECCA citizen to bring an environment-related legal action. Changing these attitudes and practices will be a long and troublesome process. The Aarhus Convention will not be truly implemented until openness, transparency and accountability in environmental decision-making become everyday habits.     

Sectoral change and labour productivity growth during boom,bust and recovery in Central and Eastern Europe

This paper assesses the extent of structural or sectoral change and its importance for aggregate productivity growth during times of boom, bust and recovery. The analysis covers 10 EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe over the years 2001–2012. The reallocation of labour across sectors was substantial during the boom, very extensive in 2009 at the depth of the crisis and modest in the subsequent recovery period. The contribution of sectoral change to aggregate productivity growth is computed using various decomposition methods. Changes in labour productivity within sectors play the dominant role for aggregate productivity growth, while reallocation of labour between sectors is less important. This pattern is found through most of the sample period despite large differences in the extent of sectoral change during the boom, crisis and recovery.