In my theoretical research on law I combine insights from sociology of law, comparative legal history and philosophy. I have developed a theory of legal survivals in order to account for the continuity of juridical form despite revolutions, transformations and other transitions. I have also worked on the theory of adjudication, exploring the limits of judicial discretionary power in the context of ideology and the political. My analyses led me to developing the concept of a juridico-political decision. I have also explored Central European legal identity in the context of the post-socialist transformation in the region.
I am a research affiliate at the CEU Democracy Institute. I hold a PhD in private law from the University of Amsterdam (2014) and a habilitation in philosophy of law (doctor habilitatus iuris) from the University of Wrocław (2019). I also hold a master's degree in Roman law (magister iuris) from the University of Warsaw (2003). Before joining the CEU Democracy Institute, I was a fellow of the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law, University of Amsterdam.
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If you are a law graduate and would like to prepare, under my supervision, a Ph.D. thesis in one of the areas of my research, please drop me an email.
Disclaimer: This personal academic website is separate from my work for the European Parliamentary Research Service. All views presented here and in all of my academic publications linked here are purely personal and do not represent the position of the European Parliament.
Sociology of law & comparative legal history
Legal survivals are legal institutes (Rechtsinstitute, istituti giuridici) which were created in the past but continue to exist despite revolutions, transformations and transitions. Studying legal survivals tells us a lot about juridical form (the law as a "form" for political and socio-economic "content") and its resielience.
Philosophy of law
Adjudication, that is the judicial interpretation and application of law is not as neutral as mainstream theorists would make us believe. In fact, judges need to make choices from various possible interpretations and such choices are entangled ideologically.
Comparative law, legal history & sociology of law
Did the end of the socialist period in Central Europe lead to the demise of the Socialist Legal Family? Is it possible to identify a Central European legal family? What is the impact of neo-authoritarian populism upon Central European legal cultures? Can we speak of a "populist legality"?
Critical legal theory
As Prof. Costas Douzinas points out, the law "is first and foremost an ideological practice, a way ofunderstanding the world. The claim that the law is value freeis perhaps the strongest ideological ruse of our time." In examining the relations between law and ideology, I try to look not only for ideological instrumentalisation of the law, but also dig deeper for the ideological unconscious of the law, as well as look into the relationship between general political ideology and lawyers' "guild ideologies"
Comparative private law & legal history
Should we have a European Civil Code? What methods of unifying private law are better, scientific, judicial or legislative?
Critical legal theory
Chantal Mouffe, following Carl Schmitt, defines the political (das Politische, le politique) as the fundamental social antagonism, which needs to be differentiated from politcs (die Politik, la politique). In my research on law and the political, I try to understand the structural relations between the two spheres, looking specifically into legislation and the political, legal science and the political and adjudication and the political.
Legal history & philosophy of law
As Kiergegaard famously claimed, "the exception explains the universal and itself, and if one really wants to study the universal, one only needs to look around for a real exception; it discloses everything far more clearly than the universal itself."
History of legal ideas
There are two legal theorists whose work I consider to be genuinely fascinating and highly original. The first one is Evgeny Pashukanis (1891-1937), one of the (forgotten) founding fathers of the sociology of law, who developed an original hylomorphic concept of law, embedded in his materialist-realist legal theory. The other one is Artur Kozak (1960-2009), definitely the most original Polish legal theorist of the 20th century, who elaborated his own legal theory known as "juriscentrism."