Influence of Implicit and Visible Legal Cultures on Modernisation of Judicial Systems in European Countries

Abstract

The functioning of the judicial system depends not only on the law in force, but also on its interpretation on a daily basis by both court officials and citizens, that is, the level of their legal culture. In some national law systems of European states the general direction of visible and implicit culture coincides. So the national deep level of legal values for the most part coincides with the adopted laws that are implicit and visible cultures are difficult to discern. However, if the national deep level, which corresponds to the deep context of the culture and mentality of a given society, comes into conflict with the visible culture expressed in officially adopted laws and the official state ideology, two cultures are formed: visible culture and implicit culture. Unable to influence the decision of the government, people try in every possible way to avoid direct conflict, but they follow their own rules developed by a narrower group of people, thereby strengthening the influence of implicit legal culture. Keywords: Legal culture; European legal culture; Judicial Systems in European Countries.