Article by Zoltán Péteri
The recognition of socialist law as a new, independent family of law has become gradually a generally accepted truth in the world's legal literature. Moreover, in this field we are witnesses to a new development. The previous, simplistic attitude towards socialist law that identified it exclusively with Soviet law is declining. Variances within the socialist family, characteristic of a smaller or bigger group of countries or even a particular legal system, are increasing all over the world. In socialist legal literature, the distinction between Soviet and people's democratic legal systems has been recognized for a long time. The relationship among socialist legal systems is more colorful now since socialist countries of the Far East, Cuba, and some countries of the Third World, have gained independence and have chosen the way of socialist development. Additionally, scholarly attempts at a comparative analysis of these socialist systems are plentiful. Nevertheless, the theoretical generalization gained from comparative analysis remains a task to be performed in the future. By limiting ourselves only to analysis of the legal systems of European socialist countries that follow the Soviet model, we are able to draw several conclusions concerning their development.
About the Author
Zoltán Péteri. Deputy Director, Institute for Legal and Administrative Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Citation
61 Tul. L. Rev. 1397 (1987)