Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-239).
Contents:
Beginnings of the Czech state and law -- Development of law during the era of the Luxemburgs until 1419 -- The Hussite period -- Law during the Estate Monarchy -- Law during the Age of Absolutism -- Enlightened absolutism -- Codification of Austrian civil law -- Austrian constitutional development 1848-1914 and Czech national movement -- Austrian legal development 1848-1918 -- The break-up of the Habsburg empire and the establishment of Czechoslovakia -- Continuities and discontinuities in the initial period of Czechoslovak legal development -- Constitutional development of the First Czechoslovak Republic -- Legal aspects of national minorities -- Changes in Czechoslovak law 1918-1938 -- The Munich Agreement and the Protectorate of Bohemia & Moravia -- Re-establishment of Czechoslovakia in pre-Munich borders -- Presidential decrees (so-called Beneš decrees) -- The Third Czechoslovak Republic 1945-1948 -- May Constitution of 1948 and the political system of the People's Democracy -- Changes in the Czechoslovak legal system 1948-1960 -- Political trials and other forms of persecution -- Changes in land law : forced collectivization -- Social security and labour law -- The Socialist Constitution of 1960 -- Recodification of criminal law in the 1960s -- New civil law of the 1960s -- Prague Spring -- The period of "normalization" 1969-1989 -- Velvet Revolution and period of "transformation".
Summary:
"The legal system of the present-day Czech Republic cannot be understood without sufficient knowledge of its historical roots and evolution. This book deals with the development of Czech law from its initial origins as a form of Slavic law to its current position, reflecting the influence of the legal systems of neighbouring countries and that of Roman law. The reader can see how a legal system originally based on custom developed into written and codified law. Czech law was fully dependent upon developments within the Luxemburg, Jagiellonian and, primarily, Hapsburg monarchies, although some features remained autonomous. The 20th century is particularly important in the development of the Czech state and law of today, namely due to the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 and its split in 1992 giving rise to the independent identities of the Czech republic and the Slovak republic. It was a century encompassing periods of democratic as well as totalitarian regimes; political, ideological, economic and social changes stemming from such transformations were projected into, and reflected in, the system of Czechoslovak and Czech law. It can therefore serve as a "case study" for researchers interested in the transition of democratic legal systems into totalitarian regimes, and vice versa."--Page [4] of cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.