engleski

Catholic theology in Croatian Universities: between the Constitution and the Treaty ; a Policy Oriented Inquiry

The intellectual impetus that Božidar Bakotić gives to his students has been all too often in the shadow of his magisterial care. This paper is meant to be a tribute to both. First, it is a tribute to what may well be the tenet of his teaching. This is the idea that legal problems worthy of study – not merely of international law but of any legal system – are trans-systemic. They are regulated (in fact or potentially) by two or more legal systems, such as international law, national law or laws of federal units. Analytical legal theory, which was taking shape at the time he introduced me to trans-systemic legal problems almost four decades ago, takes as its privileged subject-matter the legal system, including its relations to other systems of prescription, be they legal or not (esp. moral). Hence I owe to Professor Bakotić my understanding as well as interest in the discipline that has become my primary academic concern. Secondly, this paper is both an outcome and recognition of the reassurance Božidar gave me at the critical point when I was treading on the virgin land of church and state scholarship in Croatia (as well as a small token of gratitude for my whole academic career). To avoid pathos, which easily creeps into a tribute to a cherished teacher, this paper is not meant to be as solemn or as sober as its title may suggest. Rather than sincerely serving a higher end (such as the enlightenment of policymakers in the trinity of Church, State and University), the paper is an end in itself. The model is violin four hands, with simultaneous pizzicato and bow movements, that is, a musically light but somewhat tricky piece composed arte gratia artis and played at the New Year parties of the Zagreb University Faculty Club. My piece is composed to entertain two groups of connoisseurs, including those among each group who find my main theme or topic unkindly parochial or plainly dull but might be interested in observing how one performs on all fours. The first group are traditional European legal scholars, most notably internationalists like Professor Bakotić himself, who operate within the inherited (chiefly German 19th century) legal dogmatics, with – to put it mildly – a sanitary disregard for more recent theoretical frameworks (chiefly American) such as the – meanwhile well past its prime (in fact almost extinct) – Myres McDougal and Harold Lasswell policy-oriented jurisprudence [hereinafter: POJ]. The second group are still active students or at least admirers of the late Myres McDougal and Harold Lasswell. My obvious intention is to entertain both groups with the same performance to the point of oblivion, but, just to be nasty, at the very end reveal unexpectedly why it appealed to them. Since the intention could hardly be realised even by a better mind, I may at least purvey a bit of slapstick when my long awaited principal point falls flat.

faculties of catholic theology; croatian public universities; croatian constitution; croatian concordat; policy oriented jurisprudence

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