Transitional Justice: The Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Enemies.

• Author: Saffron, Joseph

Constitutional democratization is on stage in many regions of the world today as an increasing number of countries shed their repressive pasts. Although welcome, this trend raises many troubling and complex issues, all tied to the core question of how new democracies will reckon with the legacy of abuses committed by past regimes. How should the new government delineate the division between itself and the old regime? Should it prosecute ousted officials or purge old regime workers from their government positions? Should it compensate and rehabilitate victims? If so, will such policies hinder the rebuilding process or compromise rule by law?

At this watershed juncture in world history comes a landmark contribution from Neil Kritz, senior scholar in the Rule of Law Initiative for the United States Institute for Peace, author of reports on the treatment of war crimes in Rwanda and Cambodia, and coordinator for the review of the draft Russian Constitution. From Nelson Mandela's foreword to a formidable lineup of expert contributing authors and reports from such groups as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Council of Europe, and the Organization of American States, Kritz has assembled the most comprehensive study of its kind.

This is a three-volume work of 35 countries over the past 50 years. The volumes can be navigated using an author index, country index, or a cross reference between individual country studies and associated legal documents.

Volume I, "General Considerations", is a multi-disciplinary analysis of transitional justice. Perspectives from political science, history, law, philosophy, and psychology distinguish between different governmental transitions and the circumstances that shape them. Accountability and moral responsibility are critical topics and, with a general discussion of ethics, are reconciled with the constraints often posed by political systems. The laws of war, specifically command responsibility for war crimes and the duties of both superior and subordinate where immoral and illegal orders are concerned, are also considered.

Volume II, "Country Studies", is a chronological, in-depth study of 21 countries in the post-Second World War era. Germany's two transitions, from Nazism and from communism, receive due attention. Critical transitional justice issues for Germany--the trials of Erich Honecker and the East German border guards, the status of Stasi informants, and the issue of public access to Stasi...