Course info

With the Nuremberg Trials after WWII a process began which, after the end of the cold war, became more dynamic and which is usually summarized under the term Transitional Justice. The launch of a universal human rights agenda let to the need for the international community to enforce these principles in some cases of severe violations, to punish the perpetrators, and to do justice to the victims. The institution of the International Criminal Court in Den Haag in 1998/2002 is a milestone in this development, although some important states including China, Russia, India, and the USA have not signed or ratified the treaty. While nevertheless the notion of Transitional Justice seems to be a global project, there is no universal scheme how to implement it. Since a rigorous reckoning with the perpetrators may lead to new instability, for centuries the idea prevailed which the Roman philosopher Seneca had expressed with the words “the best precaution against civil war is oblivion”. Transitional societies are, therefore, in the need to balance the victims’ legitimate call for justice and the necessity to reconcile the society and to stabilize its new institutions. The seminar will address the problem in the first part from a general, theoretical point of view. In the second part several cases of Transitional Justice will be examined. While the main focus, thereby, is on the Central and East European experience, cases in other areas will be also considered, depending on the interest of the participants.