State Bodies, Democracy and Civil Society
The limited regime of competence in which a dismissed cabinet acts after losing the vote of confidence of parliament raises a large number of practical questions and interpretative problems, both in relation to the powers of the cabinet itself and in relation to the regime of its cooperation with the head of state. The relatively long tenure of such a cabinet also raises the question of by whom and how it is to be controlled, a question that goes back to the very philosophy of our form of government and constitutional system. Similarly, the question of whether (or to what extent) it is appropriate to intervene through the direct democracy instruments in the processes resulting from acts of (electoral) representative democracy, particularly in terms of curtailing the parliamentary season by means of a referendum, is a topical issue at the present time.
Civil society is evolving historically, and the perception of civil society, its roles and the functions it performs for a democratic and rule-of-law state are changing as well. For law and jurisprudence, it is evident that civil society consists of a community of people and relationships, as well as a complex of legally relevant actions and inactions, including an awareness of both the “individual” and the ”commons” in the broadest context. At the same time, the theoretical, philosophical and constitutional legal question of what legal conditions need to be established or guaranteed for civil society in the state to develop in its free and independent dimension is even more pertinent.
Guarantors of the section:
doc. JUDr. Mgr. Martina Gajdošová, PhD.
JUDr. Stanislav Gaňa, PhD.