‘Ostrecht’ is a term commonly used in German-speaking countries to refer both to the law of Eastern European states and to the academic study of that law. The term was coined as the pithy title of a journal founded in 1925 by three Berlin lawyers, which they subtitled ‘Monthly Journal for the Law of Eastern European States ’. In the foreword to issue 1, they provided the following rationale:

“The political reorganisation of Eastern Europe has presented numerous legal challenges of the utmost importance. Coming to terms with the past poses just as many difficulties as the creation of new legal systems, which has begun across the board. These challenges are further complicated by exceptional economic circumstances, such as currency devaluation and the introduction of new currencies. The legal treatment of these problems has so far been only sporadic, and the relevant material is scattered far and wide. Although the same issues arise in almost all the states of Eastern Europe, a comparative legal analysis of them has scarcely been undertaken due to linguistic differences. The purpose of this journal is to remedy this shortcoming. It aims to be a central forum for the law of the Eastern European states, namely the following countries: Bulgaria, Danzig, Estonia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The aim is an independent, strictly academic examination of the entire field of Eastern European law, with particular emphasis on practical considerations and the ongoing pursuit of comparative law.”^[1]

Also in 1925, the legal department of the Institute for Eastern Europe —founded in 1922 in Breslau/Wrocław —published the first issue of the *Zeitschrift für osteuropäisches Recht* (Journal of Eastern European Law). The two publications merged in 1927 to form the *Zeitschrift für Ostrecht* (Journal of Eastern Law). Its editorial team was partially disbanded in 1933 under pressure from the Nazi regime. From 1934, it was known as the ‘Zeitschrift für osteuropäisches Recht’ (Journal of Eastern European Law), which continued until the end of 1944. Owing to its objective reporting on Eastern European law, it was kept under close surveillance by the Gestapo and subjected to ideological and political pressure.^[2]

After the Second World War, the term ‘Ostrecht’ became widely established in academia as a designation for the study of the law of the Eastern European states under communist rule. This is evidenced by the ‘Department for Research into Eastern European Law’ (University of Hamburg, 1953) and the ‘Institutes for Eastern European Law’ (University of Munich, 1957; University of Cologne, 1964). Eastern European law became an optional subject at various Schools, was used as a (partial) designation for lecturers’ posts and chairs (Munich; Berlin; Hamburg; Kiel; Göttingen; Cologne; Regensburg; Passau; Würzburg; Salzburg; Frankfurt am Main; Wismar), and was used to designate research fellow positions at universities and Max Planck Institutes. The venia legendi for Eastern European law was granted. A “Study Group on Eastern European Law” was formed, which held regular conferences. Within the German Society for Eastern European Studies, the “Law Section” was established.

In the Anglo-Saxon world, interest in the law of Eastern Europe only began after the Second World War. Initially, the terms ‘Soviet Law’ and ‘Socialist Law’ predominated. Later, ‘Law in Eastern Europe’ and ‘East European Law’ were added. In France, the term ‘Droit de l’Europe de l’Est’ is in common use alongside ‘Droit des Pays Socialistes/Communistes’; in Italy, ‘Diritto dell’Europa orientale ’ alongside ‘Diritto dei paesi socialisti ’; and in the Netherlands, ‘Oost-Europees Recht’.

From the outset, Eastern European law was focused on the study of foreign law and comparative law. As a result of the fact that Eastern Europe was largely comprised of communist states, research into Eastern European law enjoyed strong institutional support during the Cold War. Partly due to the distinct nature of socialist law, Eastern European law became somewhat detached from its ‘parent discipline’ and became increasingly integrated into Eastern European studies as a regional discipline (area studies). This sparked a fundamental debate, the outcome of which suggested that Eastern European law should not focus on ‘communism research’ and criticism of the system, but should concentrate on individual studies of national legal systems as well as on comparative legal studies within the region or, across systems, between Eastern European and Western states (legal systems).

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the purpose and significance of Eastern European studies were once again the subject of critical debate. This also affected the field of Eastern European law. The debate was shaped by the view that, with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Europe, Eastern European studies had lost its subject matter and could therefore largely be dispensed with. In the field of Eastern European law, this conclusion was bound to meet with incomprehension, not least because the collapse of the USSR, Yugoslavia and the ČSSR had seen eight states replaced by over 20 Eastern European states, each of which had to establish its own, entirely new national legal systems. In this context, ‘Eastern European legal scholars’ played a leading role as legal advisers in the transformation of the post-communist countries into democratic states governed by the rule of law, with functioning civil societies and market economies: in constitutional and administrative law, civil and commercial law, criminal law and penal law, and procedural and judicial law. ‘Ostrecht’ thus remained an important branch of comparative law and legal practice.

Like no other country in Europe, Germany has close ties with all the countries of Eastern Europe, ties that are deeply rooted in history. Research into Eastern Europe has therefore been particularly well established at an institutional level in Germany since the 19th century. This also applies to the law relating to the former Eastern territories. After the Second World War, specific factors came into play: the division of Germany and the Sovietisation of Central Germany (the GDR), the loss of the eastern territories, and the reception of over 15 million displaced persons, refugees and ethnic German repatriates from all parts of Eastern Europe. All these phenomena and processes have legal implications. Consequently, research into Eastern European law is also significant for the study of the history and culture of Germans in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, their coexistence with other nations and ethnic groups, and for the study of their mutual influence right up to the present day.

• Georg Brunner: Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Edited by Otto Luchterhandt and Angelika Nußberger. Kraków 2006.
• F[erdinand] J. M. Feldbrugge: The Study of Soviet Law. In: Review of Socialist Law 3 (1978), pp. 201–214.
• Herbert Küpper: An Introduction to the Legal History of Eastern Europe. Frankfurt am Main 2005 (Studies of the Institute for Eastern European Law, Munich 54).
• Otto Luchterhandt: Subject Matter, Aims and Methods of Eastern European Legal Studies. A Critical Summary of a Scholarly Debate. In: Osteuropa-Recht 22 (1976), pp. 85–107.
• Otto Luchterhandt: Future Tasks for Research into Eastern European Law. In: WGO. Monthly Journal for Eastern European Law, Vol. 38 (1996), pp. 159–175.
• Otto Luchterhandt: Eastern Europe between academia and politics. In: Jule Böhmer, Marcel Viëtor (eds.): Eastern Europe Today. Developments – Commonalities – Differences. Hamburg 2007 (Eastern Europe. History, Economy, Politics 43), pp. 13–44.
• Boris Meissner: The Development and Current State of German Research into Eastern European Law and its Position within International Eastern European Studies. In: B[oris] Meissner, H[erwig] Roggemann, F[riedrich]-C[hristian] Schroeder, K[laus] Westen (eds.): Fundamental Issues in Eastern European Legal Research. Tübingen 1980 (Studies of the Institute for Eastern European Law, Munich 28), pp. 103–106.
• Alexander Trunk, Thomas Hoffmann (eds.): 50 Years of the Institute for Eastern European Law at Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel. Lohmar 2011 (Kieler Schriften für Ostrecht I).

• Yearbook of Eastern European Law (JOR), Munich
• Uppsala Yearbook of East European Law, Uppsala, Sweden
• Eastern European Law (OER), Cologne
• WGO. Monthly Journal of Eastern European Law (MfOR), Hamburg (until 2007)
• Law in East and West (ROW), Berlin (until 1998)
• Economy and Law in Eastern Europe (WIRO)
• eastlex. Journal of Eastern European Law, Vienna (since 2005)
• Review of Socialist Law (RSL), Leiden, Netherlands, published since 1992 under the title Review of Central and East European Law (RCEEL)
• Survey of East European Law (SEEL), Durham, USA

Inter-university certificate programme in ‘Eastern European Law’ (Association of Institutes and Chairs of Eastern European Law in German-speaking countries), contact: office-eastlaw@law.uni-kiel.de; www.uni-kiel.de/eastlaw/zert-ostr/Uebersicht.htm.

[1] Ostrecht. Monthly Journal on the Law of Eastern European States, 1925, Issue 1, p. 1 (Editorial foreword: Heinrich Freund, Erwin Loewenfeld, Udo Rukser).

[2] Martin Fincke: Reinhard Maurach † (obituary). In: Osteuroparecht 22 (1976), pp. 281–283.

Otto Luchterhandt: Ostrecht. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2012. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32788 (accessed 22 November 2021).