Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Nations

The concept of transitional justice is relatively new in the discourse of sociolegal studies. In general, it is connected with the waves of democratization around the world that began at the end of the twentieth century. The concept possesses a teleological and an ideological dimension. Both describe interconnected aspects of the end of the process of transition to liberal democracy.

The ideological dimension provides the guide for the transitional form. In the case of post-communist transformation, the teleological dimension or aim was liberal democracy, which was recognized as a “normal” state of society and polity. Administrators of transitional justice move between two points: (1) the point of departure (dictatorship, communism), and (2) the point of arrival (fully developed liberal democracy).

Transitional justice includes the legal practices and ...