Transitional Justice: Theoretical Exploration of the Concept and its Practice in Context of the RUSSIA–UKRAINE WAR
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22364/adz.60.02Keywords:
transitional justice, tribunal, truth commissions, restitution, reparationsAbstract
In the article, the author explains the concept of transitional justice, illustrating it with historical examples. The main measures of transitional justice are described in this article, emphasizing challenges in their application, and discusses their implementation in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The author elucidates the characteristics of tribunals established within the framework of transitional justice and introduces the concept and potential functions of truth commissions. The discussion extends to reparations programs and methods of their implementation, touching on the broader issue of institutional reforms with focus on the role of lustration. In the conclusions, the author emphasizes that the aim of transitional justice is to hold perpetrators accountable through legal means, improve the conditions of surviving victims, and prevent future violence. To achieve these goals, transitional justice encompasses three dimensions: uncovering the historical causes and consequences of the conflict (truth), determining the legal responsibility of perpetrators (justice), and providing financial compensation to victims (reparations). Considering current trends, the author predicts that after the end of the war in Ukraine, advocates of transitional justice will address not only the prosecution of perpetrators but also reparations programs, restitution, and the establishment of truth, possibly in the form of a truth commission.
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