The Parker School has a long experience in following legal developments in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Professor John Hazard, one of the world's leading scholars of Soviet law, was affiliated with Columbia University and the Parker School from 1946 until 1995. Today, the School monitors closely the extraordinarily rapid legal developments throughout the region. Under the direction of Professor Vratislav Pechota, the Parker School publishes The Parker School Journal on East European Law (JEEL), a scholarly review devoted to analysis of legal developments as they occur in Russia and Eastern Europe. Two collections of primary source materials in English, Russia and the Republics Legal Materials and Central & Eastern European Legal Materials, provide scholars and practitioners easy access to the new laws structuring the transformation from centrally planned to market economies. Complementing these collections is a series of studies on commercial law, foreign investment, and taxation in Eastern Europe. The Parker School values the opportunities for cooperation with scholars in Eastern Europe and participates in joint studies with academic institutions in that part of the world. In addition, the School coordinates its activities with active Columbia Law School participants in the legal revolution throughout the region, such as Professors Andrzej Rapaczynski and George Fletcher, who are providing assistance to the Polish, Russian, and Hungarian Republics. Professor Pechota teaches the course on Russian Legal Institutions, a seminar on Russian Perspectives on International Law and a seminar on Business Transactions in Russia.
