ublic opinion first caught my attention during myPhDresearch on the history of workplace accidents in Belgium. Disasters such as col- P lapsing charcoal mines, exploding steam engines or colliding trains not only caused material damage and loss of human lives, but also had a huge impact on the “opinion publique”. The press played a pivotal role, by covering the gruesome stories. The dramatic events sometimes even popped up in the parliamentary debates. The events also alarmed the judicial authorities. Public outrage forced them to conduct thorough investigations to find the culprits. In adifferentcontext,publicopinionreappeared in my advanced course “Historical Trials”.1 In this course, we study a number of important historical trials, by analyzing the facts of the case, the actors, the legal issues, the contemporary context, the afterlife of the case, the role of the press, etc. One common thread through the discussions on the studied cases was the prominent role of the public opinion. This has inspired me to dedicate this contribution to the complex relationship between the public opinion and the Rechtsstaat. I will first try to get a better understanding of the notion of “public opinion”, its origins and its development. Then I will analyze how the public opinion has been incorporated in the Rechtsstaat,followed by several examples where the public opinion served as safeguard of the Rechtsstaat. Finally, I will discuss the current problems with the public opinion and the Rechtsstaat in the new millennium. Everyone has some idea about the notion of “public opinion”, however, it is difficult to give a precise definition.2 The “Public opinion” is one of Introduction The intangible public opinion the intangible public opinion as safeguard of the rechtsstaat 1 In 2018, I inherited the advanced course of Global Legal Traditions from Professor Mats Kumlien, who retired. Historical Trials is the successor of this course. 65
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