This panel brings scholars and practitioners from different countries (Hungary, Poland, Kazakhstan, and Taiwan ) and disciplines (law and political science) together to analyze the indispensable role of constitutions and constitutional courts in the process of overcoming political injustice of the past. Issues raised in the panel include: is a new constitution inevitable for the...
Between Blaming and Naming: Constitutions and Transitional Justice in Post-Soviet States
The quarter-century of politics in twelve non-Baltic post-Soviet states shows the approaches of transitional justice from blaming to naming towards the abuses of human rights committed by Soviet and post-Soviet regimes. All post-Soviet regimes officially blame Stalinist regime in general while very few – Georgia and Ukraine – actually blame post-Stalinist regime, name concrete perpetrators...
Facing the Shadows of the Past During Transitions: The Role of the Constitution in the Case of Hungary
One of the greatest challenges facing Hungary is coping with the grievances left by the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. The question of how to settle the pro-Nazi and communist pasts of the country was first raised during the democratic transition in 1989. This paper discusses how the democratic 1989 constitution of...
“Chief Justices of Constitutional Courts in Democratic Transition: Roles and Models”
The disagreement on the proper role of judges confronting upon issues of political morality goes back to the renowned debate between Herbert Hart and Ronald Dworkin. The generations of constitutional courts, led by ambitious chief justices in many countries, are considered the most important institutional guarantors of transitional justice and constitutionalism on account of their...
Why Constitution Matters with Transitional Justice: Comparison of Taiwan and South Korea
The paths of constitutional reform and democratization in Taiwan and South Korea paralleled as well as diverged from each other. The difference has a huge impact upon their policies and legal strategy toward transitional justice. Constitution in post-authoritarian Taiwan failed to form a new political identity against past atrocity. Even though the Constitutional Court has...