During his recent visit to Bulgaria in May 2000 Lord Dahrendorf, member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, and former Head of the London Business School, Rector of Saint Anthony's College and Deputy Rector of the Oxford University, paid a visit to the Center for the Study of Democracy. In 1992 and in 1993 the Center for the Study of Democracy translated into Bulgarian and published two of Lord Dahrendorf' books - "Reflection on the Revolution in Europe" and "The Modern Social Conflict".

During the talks Mr. Boyko Todorov, Program Director and Dr. Maria Yordanova, Head of the Law Program to CSD, informed Lord Dahrendorf about the latest areas of activities of CSD. Issues discussed included the judicial system in Bulgaria and its relation to the executive authorities and the promotion of democratic reforms and legal environment beneficial to the countries in transition. The regional aspects of legal reform were particularly highlighted.

Lord Dahrendorf emphasized the importance of building an independent judiciary and its role to strengthen the potentials of the newly established democracies in Bulgaria and the Southeast Europe region. Mr. Todorov presented the Southeast European Legal Development Initiative (www.seldi.net) launched in 1999 with the overall aim to contribute to the building of the rule of law and democratic institutions in the SEE countries. Lord Dahrendorf was invited to become a member of the International Steering Board of SELDI.