The Powers of the Head of State in the Legislative and Executive Branch in Former Socialist Systems

This paper deals with the position and the powers of head of state in the legislative and the executive branch in former socialist systems. It examines the system in countries that emerged from socialist regimes, where the parliamentary system and the function of the President of the Republic as the individual head of state were introduced in the 1990s, namely in 10 (newest) Member States of the European Union. The paper elaborates on the position of the President of the Republic, the extent of the office’s powers, and the resulting cooperation between the office of the President, the executive and legislative bodies, which is also one of the fundamental criteria of the standard classification of political regimes. The powers of the President in the field of legislation are the powers based on which the relationship between the President of the Republic and the legislative authority is established. The analyzed powers that the President exercises vis-à-vis the parliament are the powers of the President in relation to the adoption of an Act, the powers that the President of the Republic has in the domain of announcing parliamentary elections and convening a parliamentary sitting, as well as the powers in the domain of dissolving the parliament and announcing early elections. In the second part the paper focuses on the relationship between the President of the Republic and the government, and, consequently, the President's powers in the formation of the government and the appointing of state officials

Sistem volitev in pristojnosti predsednika republike v baltiških državah in v Sloveniji

Prispevek obravnava sistem volitev predsednika republike v baltiških državah. Za razliko od Latvije in Estonije v Litvi predsednika republike volijo na neposrednih volitvah volivci, pri čemer večina, potrebna za izvolitev, v prvem krogu variira glede na volilno udeležbo. Estonska ustava omogoča tudi do pet krogov volitev. V prvih treh krogih predsednika republike voli parlament. V primeru, da noben kandidat ne dobi ustrezne večine glasov, se oblikuje posebno volilno telo, ki voli predsednika republike v četrtem in po potrebi tudi petem krogu volitev. Svojevrstna ureditev je tudi v Latviji, kjer v primeru, ko tudi v drugem krogu volitev ni izvoljen predsednik, pričnejo z izločanjem kandidatov, ki so dobili najmanj glasov (run-off elections). V prispevku so celovito predstavljeni tudi predsednikov položaj in njegove pristojnosti, pri čemer je pozornost posvečena pristojnostim na zakonodajnem in izvršilnem področju. Celovit pregled bo omogočil kritično presojo, ali je z načinom volitev nujno povezan tudi obseg formalno določnih pristojnosti predsednika republike.The analysis of the position, powers, and election of the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia shows that the powers of these presidents are predominantly representative. Latvia and Estonia have developed a typical parliamentary systems with indirectly elected presidents. The president of Lithuania, however, has somehow stronger powers in relation to the parliament and the cabinet. Lithuania therefore shows some signs of a semi-presidential systems. It is thus understandable that the president of Lithuania is elected directly, since direct elections give him or her some more legitimacy. When one compares the powers and position of the Slovenian president to the presidents of the three Baltic States, one can conclude that the president of Slovenia is the weakest of the four. Slovenian president is the only one of the four, who does not have a right of veto. Slovenian and Estonian presidents do not have a power of countersignature. When we compare the nominations of the prime ministers in the four states, we note that the position of the Slovenian president is the weakest since he only holds the power to suggest and not to appoint the prime minister. We conclude that usually directly elected presidents are also stronger in powers, but Slovenia seems to be an exception to this rule

Constituting the function of the President of the Republic in former socialist countries

Doktorska disertacija analizira konstituiranje funkcije predsednika republike v bivših socialističnih državah. Podrobneje je analiziran ustavni položaj predsednika republike Estonije, Latvije, Litve, Poljske, Češke, Slovaške, Slovenije, Hrvaške, Madžarske, Romunije ter Bolgarije, torej v enajstih državah članicah Evropske unije. Gre za ureditve, ki so funkcijo predsednika republike kot individualnega šefa države uvedle v devetdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja. Preučevane države so se ob konstituiranju funkcije predsednika republike in umestitvi njegovega položaja zgledovale po etabliranih pravnih sistemih. Pri tem je ob upoštevanju lastnih zgodovinskih, kulturnih in političnih razlogov prelitje posameznih ustavnih institutov privedlo do vzpostavitve svojevrstnega institucionalnega (ne)ravnovesja, kar odločilno vpliva na razmerje med vlado, parlamentom in predsednikom republike ter posledično na samo delovanje državne oblasti. V nekaterih ureditvah so bile sprva prisotne tendence po uvedbi sistema z močnejšim položajem šefa države, povzetim po predsedniškem oziroma polpredsedniškem sistemu, vendar je večina teh držav skozi ustavni razvoj in stabilizacijo političnega prostora postopoma omejila predsednikove pristojnosti. Drugače je v tistih ureditvah, kjer je ustavodajalec predsedniku že ob konstituiranju funkcije podelil predvsem reprezentativne pristojnosti, zgledujoč se po sistemih z nadvlado parlamenta, in tako onemogočil, da bi lahko predsednik, skladno s svojo nevtralno vlogo, ustrezno razreševal »krizne situacije« povezane z blokado oblasti, do katere lahko pride zaradi konfliktov med parlamentom in vlado. Danes se v analiziranih ustavnih ureditvah prepletajo številni elementi, značilni za različne politične sisteme, ki determinirajo (specifičen) položaj šefa države. Položaj predsednika republike, zlasti obseg njegovih pristojnosti in iz tega izhajajoča razmerja do zakonodajnih in izvršilnih organov, pa je hkrati tudi eno izmed temeljnih meril klasične klasifikacije političnih sistemov. Na predsednikov položaj poleg pristojnosti, ki jih izvršuje (predvsem na zakonodajnem in izvršilnem področju), vpliva tudi način njegove izvolitve. V primerjavi s tradicionalnimi zahodnimi sistemi v večini obravnavanih bivših socialističnih držav način izvolitve predsednika republike ni v neposredni korelaciji z obsegom njegovih formalno določenih pristojnosti. Na podlagi opravljene primerjalnopravne analize je mogoče ugotoviti, da ima predsednik republike v slovenski ureditvi (kjer mu je ustavodajalec z neposrednimi volitvami okrepil legitimnost, na drugi strani pa mu hkrati določil šibke, predvsem reprezentativne pristojnosti) najšibkejši položaj izmed obravnavanih enajstih bivših socialističnih držav.This doctoral dissertation deals with the constituting i.e. formation of the function of the President of the Republic in former socialist countries. It analyses in greater detail the constitutional role of the President of the Republic of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, i.e. eleven Member States of the European Union. These states put in place the office of President of the Republic as the individual Head of State in the 1990s. In the process of the formation of the function of the President of the Republic, the countries analysed took inspiration from other established legal systems. In this context, while taking into account their own historical, cultural and political reasons, these states have experienced a spill-over of individual constitutional institutions leading to the creation of a sui generis institutional equilibrium i.e. separation of powers, or lack thereof, which has a decisive impact on the relations between the Government, the Parliament and the President of the Republic, as well as, consequently, on the functioning of the authority of the state itself. Some political systems initially showed a tendency to introduce a system with a stronger head of state, inspired by presidential or semi-presidential republics, but the majority of these countries gradually limited the powers of the President through the constitutional development and stabilisation of their political space. The situation is, however, different in those countries where, from the very beginning of the formation of the function of the President of the Republic, the constitutional legislator conferred upon the President mainly representative powers, following the example of systems with parliamentary supremacy, thus preventing the President, in accordance with his or her neutral role, from being able to adequately address ‘crisis situations’ in relation to the blocking of authorities arising from conflicts between the Parliament and Government. Hence, the analysed constitutional regimes have now seen certain elements appear which are “alien” to different political systems and which determine the (specific) position of the Head of State. The position of the President of the Republic, and in particular the extent of his or her powers and the resulting relationship with the legislative and executive bodies, is also one of the fundamental criteria of the classic classification of political systems. In addition to the powers exercised (mainly in the legislative and executive domains), the President’s position is also influenced by the way he or she is elected. Compared to traditional western systems, the way in which the President of the Republic is elected in most of the former socialist states in question is not directly correlated to the extent of his or her formally defined powers. Based on the analysis of comparative law carried out, it can be concluded that in a regime like the one set up in Slovenia (where the constitutional legislator strengthened the President’s legitimacy by holding direct elections, but at the same time conferred upon him or her weak, mainly representative powers), the President’s position is the weakest among the eleven former socialist states analysed

The Powers of the Head of State in the Legislative and Executive Branch in Former Socialist Systems

This paper deals with the position and the powers of head of state in the legislative and the executive branch in former socialist systems. It examines the system in countries that emerged from socialist regimes, where the parliamentary system and the function of the President of the Republic as the individual head of state were introduced in the 1990s, namely in 10 (newest) Member States of the European Union. The paper elaborates on the position of the President of the Republic, the extent of the office’s powers, and the resulting cooperation between the office of the President, the executive and legislative bodies, which is also one of the fundamental criteria of the standard classification of political regimes. The powers of the President in the field of legislation are the powers based on which the relationship between the President of the Republic and the legislative authority is established. The analyzed powers that the President exercises vis-à-vis the parliament are the powers of the President in relation to the adoption of an Act, the powers that the President of the Republic has in the domain of announcing parliamentary elections and convening a parliamentary sitting, as well as the powers in the domain of dissolving the parliament and announcing early elections. In the second part the paper focuses on the relationship between the President of the Republic and the government, and, consequently, the President's powers in the formation of the government and the appointing of state officials

Sodno ustvarjanje prava

V tej številki so objavljeni članki in razprave v slovenščini, angleščini, hrvaščini, bosanščini in francoščini. Prispevali so jih avtorji iz Francije, Slovenije, Argentine, Nemčije, Madžarske in Italije ter prevajalci iz Slovenije, Bosne in Hercegovine ter Hrvaške. In this issue, there are papers in Slovenian, English, Croatian, Bosnian and French, written by authors from France, Slovenia, Argentina, Germany, Hungary and Italy and by traslators from Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. U ovom broju objavljeni su članci na slovenskom, engleskom, hrvatskom, bosanskom i francuskom jeziku. Napisali su ih autori iz Francuske, Slovenije, Argentine, Njemačke, Mađarske i Italije, a prevodili autori iz Slovenije, Bosne i Hercegovine i Hrvatske. U ovom broju objavljeni su članci na slovenskom, engleskom, hrvatskom, bosanskom i francuskom jeziku. Napisali su ih autori iz Francuske, Slovenije, Argentine, Njemačke, Mađarske i Italije, a prevodili autori iz Slovenije, Bosne i Hercegovine i Hrvatske. Ce numéro porte des contributions en slovène, anglais, croate, bosniaque et français, écrits par des auteurs Fraçais, Argentins, Slovènes, Allemand; Hongrois et Italien, et traduit par des Slovène, Bosniaques et Croates