The comparative material presented in this volume encompasses a broad spectrum of legal systems belonging to various legal families, both European and non-European, the latter including the US American, Canadian and Australian systems and selected systems of South American, African and Asian countries. The analyses contained in the special reports draw on the experiences and activities of significant organisations and institutions that develop international standards related to the rule of law, such as the European Union, the Council of Europe (Venice Commission) and the OSCE.

The framework for these studies was defined in a questionnaire with problem-based questions, attached at the end of the volume. The central idea inspiring the undertaking of this topic are encapsulated in the following questions: where are we today concerning the development of the rule of law principle? Is there indeed a basis to formulate the thesis that, in recent years, there is a trend that could be described as the ‘revival of the rule of law principle’? Paradoxically, a factor indicating the extraordinary relevance and importance of this issue, as evidenced by the wide-ranging debate occurring around these matters at both national and international levels, is the crisis of the rule of law emerging in many countries, accompanied by attempts to undermine key elements of this principle.