Authors

Ramona Coman²; Leonardo Puleo¹;  ¹ University College Dublin, Ireland;  ² ULB, Belgium

Discussion

In the context of the attacks against judicial independence and the rule of law in Central and Eastern Europe, judges’ acts of resistance and opposition have been increasingly scrutinized. However, limited attention has been devoted to judges’ professional associations as actors of interest representation. This paper examines the mobilisation of judges’ professional associations in Hungary since the 2010s, in Poland since 2015 and in Romania since 2016 against the limitations of their independence. Building on the literature on interest groups and social movements, the paper discusses how judges’ associations decide to adopt pluralist, corporatist, protest, and transnational strategies in defending their cause. Drawing on interviews and content analysis of the associations’ official documents, the paper shows that the strategies displayed by the professional associations of judges are shaped not only by the political opportunity structures but also by the ethos of judges. Beyond structural conditions, the ways in which discontent is expressed depend on how judges perceive their roles in relation to the government and how they justify their mobilisation or restraint towards society.