One Summer in Gdańsk: Poland’s leadership in transition from the socialist legal model

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.) One Summer in Gdansk In 1989 I was undertaking research at the University of Bremen into what became my PhD topic.1 I had involved myself in peace and environmental issues in Melbourne2 and took great interest in the events taking place in Eastern and Central Europe. I was invited to join the peace mission 'Sailing for Peace', organised under the UN Peace Council, involving 37 yachts from all around the Baltic Sea, and even from Moscow, in a 'peace flotilla', which met at Copenhagen and sailed to Lubeck (Federal Republic of Germany), Rostock (German Democratic Republic), Kolobrzeg, Gdynia, Gdansk (Poland) and Klaipeda (Lithuania, USSR). In each port, crew members engaged in discussions with local and regional political bodies and community groups, held public seminars on peace and environmental issues and even performed street theatre. It was a lovely summer and a perfect time to visit the beautiful city of Gdansk, where our fleet docked in the old Hanseatic harbour just by the main town square. The level of excitement in Gdansk was amazing and large crowds, as well as the Polish media, were very interested in our visit. It is difficult to believe this was 20 years ago. Reading issues of the German news magazine Der Spiegel from that time reminds one of the state of excitement that East- West issues had reached in May, June and July 1989, with crucial events balanced on the edge of contention across the globe from Nicaragua to China. My involvement in Sailing for Peace and interest in the events that unfolded continue to stimulate my academic interest in issues arising in states in transition - the basis of my present project on rebuilding the civil law in states in transition with Dr Anna Taitslin,3 in which we have enjoyed generous cooperation with the National Europe Centre at The Australian National University and its Director, Professor Simon Bronitt. The Polish election of 4 June 1989 for the popular chamber, the Sejm, and the new Senate was a leading experiment in the democratisation of socialist governmental structures. Poland had for many years been a centre of energy in demands for greater democracy - probably unrivalled in the socialist world. The world had observed martial law and the growth of the Solidarity movement around the trade unions and particularly the workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk. The juxtaposition of the maturity and relative peacefulness of the Polish election with the violent tragedy of the Tiananmen Square massacre4 - both on 4 June 1989 - highlights Polish leadership in dealing with democratisation and transition. In this chapter, I wish to trace Poland's leadership back to earlier points, particularly in the advancement of civil law and property rights under socialism. Poland's Leadership in Transition from the Socialist Legal Model This chapter is an early exploration of the transition of Poland's legal system within a wider project that examines the legal systems of a number of formerly socialist states in Europe and Asia with the objectives of examining: i) the status and operation of the civil law and the property model adopted in socialist states; ii) steps taken to rebuild civil law and settle post-socialist property issues; and forming a view on iii) desirable policy and strategy with respect to, and the priority of, rebuilding the capacity of civil law institutions and restructuring property holdings in states in transition. On the basis of research to date, a hypothesis is emerging that the strength of civil law institutions in transition is an important factor in the re-establishment of a liberal legal system, which contributes to success of the transition more broadly. The experience of Poland has contributed to the formation of this hypothesis. The importance of the civil law ina Western legal system is widely underestimated. The civil law is the means by which citizens are able to challenge the legality of each others' actions horizontally within society, without recourse to top-down regulatory agencies in the public law sphere, which might be unreliable, underresourced or pursuing other priorities. …