Recht und Transformation: Rechtliche Zusammenarbeit aus der Sicht eines rezipierenden Landes

Law and Transformation: Legal Cooperation from the Point of View of the Recipient Country The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a large scale of legal reform being undertaken in the former Soviet republics. All areas of social life were subject to global changes. The pronouncement of principles such as the rule of law, democracy, market economy and protection of human rights made it necessary to reform the legal framework. Thus, the process of legal transformation has been started. The participation of international organisations and experts has become a very important part of this historically unique opportunity for revolutionary changes in the society.The general experience of legal cooperation with international organisations and experts affords a determination of the main problems in this field: competition between different legal systems and competition between the international development organisations and experts. The success of reforms depends very much on effective and constructive coordination of the activities of international organisations and experts. The coordination should be provided by state institutions in the recipient countries. Ongoing reform in Georgia has clearly shown that it is possible for lawyers from the Common Law system to effectively cooperate with representatives of the Continental European legal family. The international cooperation in the field of legal and judicial reform has developed in the form of bilateral, multilateral and regional cooperation.The results of legal cooperation should be considered as an integral part of the larger process of legal transformation. This process includes adoption of new laws, publications of legal literature (textbooks, commentaries, etc.) and training of jurists (judges, attorneys, educators). Experiences with legal reform have demonstrated that it is absolutely necessary to look to the institutions and the people who would actually implement the laws. Institutional reform, particularly judicial reform, remains a significant precondition for the implementation of the laws. One of the goals of judicial reform in Georgia has been the strengthening of the independent judiciary by abolishing the relics of the Soviet law such as the supervisory power of the prosecutor's office over the Courts, cancellation of final court decisions and normative directives being issued by the Supreme Courts.The ongoing legal reform in the former Soviet countries has been accompanied by various incorrect expectations and evaluations concerning the failure or success of reform. Legal reform should be considered as a long process. It is not yet finished. The law is a phenomena of the culture and education of a society. The successful implementation of legal reform requires strengthening of international legal cooperation in the field of legal education and legal studies.