Political manipulation of legal science in GDR

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K01245
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 05010:Legal theory and history-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Nishikawa Yoichi 東京大学, 大学院法学政治学研究科(法学部), 名誉教授 (00114596)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ドイツ民主共和国 / 法学 / 社会主義統一党

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the early German Democratic Republic, the Socialist Unity Party and the state bureaucracy led by it made great effort to establish a Marxist-Leninist law regime by training Marxist legal researchers, university personnel policies, control of academic publications centered on journals, creating university textbooks, and large-scale conferences on law. Through the holding of the conference and other means, it endeavored to establish a jurisprudence that would contribute to the radical socialization of the state and society. However, it was difficult to achieve the goals of creating a legal theory based on Marxism-Leninism and dialectical materialism and establishing a practical legal theory that is applicable to practical problems at the same time. Therefore, the jurisprudence was always the subject of criticism. Unlike historical studies, it was not possible to produce results that would be appreciated even after the disappearance of the state.

Free Research Field

西洋法制史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

「市民的」法体制をラディカルに批判したドイツ民主共和国の法と法学の研究は、西欧型リベラル・デモクラシーがその圧倒的にドミナントな地位を徐々に失いつつある現在、我々が将来の体制的選択肢について考えるために、一つの失敗例を提供している。そこで政治が法学をどのように誘導しようとしたのかを解明することによって、今後の法学研究において注意しなければならない点を知ることが出来る。