Imperfect Justice

This book is an account of the sudden death of Socialist law in East Germany and of the reactions, hopes and fears of some of its survivors. Imagine what happens when overnight a legal system is replaced by its ideological opposite? When people used to being coddled and disciplined by their law have to adjust to a State which expects them to look out for themselves? When men and women trained to serve and to legitimate their political system have to explain their complicity in its corruption? And when in this process of national soul-searching it is the Western victors alone who may ask all the questions? The remarkable transformation of East German law following the collapse of the communist regime and the dismantlement of the Berlin wall in 1990 is related by an author uniquely qualified to understand what happened during this astonishing period. Inga Markovits was born in Germany but has spent 25 years teaching law at the University of Texas in Austin. It was upon returning to Berlin in November 1989, two weeks after the opening of the Wall, that she realized that someone should try to record the events leading up to and following the death of Socialist law. Thus began this diary. When the Wall collapsed, all questions could be asked, but speed was of the essence. Memories were fresh and eyewitnesses, still reeling from the blows of political change, were eager to talk about the world they so suddenly lost. The spontaneity of the author's encounters with lawyers, judges and law professors is preserved in the pages of this diary and will leave an indelible impression upon readers. No lawyer or lay person interested in the future of Germany, the history of Communism and the study of comparative law can fail to be moved and fascinated by this book.