As was the case with the previous Forums, the conference will consist of three concurrent sections with special emphasis being put on two major general topics:

(1) Important Features of Law The first section is dedicated to one of the most fundamental questions in legal theory: What features should or must something have in order to be or to be regarded as “law”?

Contributions addressing the following questions are welcomed: Is the essentialist approach to “law” possible at all? Would it be better to analyse law by giving an account of its important features instead of only tackling its essential or necessary features? How do various theoretical/philosophical approaches to law (e.g., positivism, jusnaturalism, realism) differ with respect to their treatment of the features of law? What are the most important features of law? Has contemporary legal theory reached at least a certain level of consensus about some of the purported (important) features of law, such as normativity, coerciveness, institutional character, law’s claim to being a legitimate authority, law’s claim to correctness, law being a union of primary and secondary rules, law being a hierarchical system of norms or law having conventional foundations? What would be the most appropriate methodology (e.g. conceptual analysis, naturalised jurisprudence, normative jurisprudence) for approaching the important features of law?

(2) Contemporary State: Functions, Position and Crisis Management

The second section is dedicated to the contemporary notion of the state, in particular to the state’s (modern) functions, its position with respect to other international and domestic subjects and its “crisis management”. The participants are invited to address the following issues: What are the main functions of the contemporary state? Are the notions of “liberal”, “social” or “welfare” state still applicable? Is the state’s primary role still that of the “guardian” of private (e.g. citizens’) interests or some other levels of domestic and international protection have become even more significant? Is public law still the crucial context for providing guarantees or are we witnessing a kind of overall “privatization” of social services? What is, in this respect, the influence of the ongoing tendency towards state regionalization? What is the influence of a rather significant (constitutional?) development of supranational organizations (e.g. the EU) and their institutions? Has a qualitatively new type of direct relationship between individuals and supranational organizations been established? Are modern types of crises genuine in the sense that they cannot be predicted (e.g. contemporary terrorism; economic crisis)? Does the concept of the state’s “legitimate defense” thus take on a new meaning? What is the relationship between the state and law in modern states of emergency?

(3) Open Section

In order to meet the diverse interests of the Forum’s participants coming from various disciplines, the third section will be open for all interesting topics from the vast area of legal, political and social theory.

The conference language is English. An abstract of up to 500 words, indicating the preferred panel, should be submitted on the available application form (see below) by 31 December 2013 to cee-forum2014@pravo.hr. Acceptance of papers will be communicated by 31 January 2014. Participation without presentation is possible as well. In that case the deadline is 20 April 2014; please use the application form, too.

The conference fee for all participants is 50,- € (see payment instructions below). All participants will be given conference materials, drinks and snacks during the breaks and will be provided with altogether three meals. Participants shall make the arrangements and pay for their accommodation individually.

Please find the Call for Papers including all additional information like application form, accommodation info, directions, payment instructions and contacts on our conference website: http://www.cee-forum.org/2014<http://www.cee-forum.org/2013>.

After the conference, all participants will be invited to submit their papers in order to be published in the fourth volume of the Central and Eastern European Forum for Legal, Political, and Social Theory Yearbook (see http://www.cee-forum.org/yearbook). The details of the review process will then be published in a separate Call for Papers; the deadline will be 31 August 2014.