Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: Reckoning with the communist past

by Lavinia Stan (Editor)

This book examines transitional justice in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, exploring their attempts to come to terms with the gross human abuses which characterized their communist past. It is the first to consider transitional justice in three of its most important aspects, explaining why different countries adopted different models and how successful they have been. Its focus is on court trials launched against former communist leaders or secret agents, lustration of former communist decision-makers from post-communist governmental positions, and access to the secret files compiled on ordinary citizens by the political police forces. Three years after its publication, the volume remains the only comparative source of information on Eastern Europe, including both countries that have been pioneers in dealing with the communist past and states that have been laggards in this respect.

326 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 27, 2008