Abstract: The aim of this article is to describe the so-called ‘vetting’, within the framework of transitional justice policies. In order to do that, it is first necessary to answer a series of preliminary questions.
In general we talk about post-authoritarian justice (term which I do prefer to others, like transitional justice ), dealing with the past, coping with the past, but also ‘militant democracy’ . The latter is a concept not usually employed in writing on these matters but, as I will explain, still very pertinent to the issue. In fact, I consider necessary to highlight the relation between vetting and protection of democratic legal order .
Vetting is only one of the transitional justice measures, aimed at removing from public life representatives of the leadership and management of the old authoritarian regime (political élite, administrators) .
The definition and the meaning are not the same in other languages.
The methodological basis of the research is a systematic, structural-functional, comparative approaches, methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, observation. Main results of this article: 1. Linguistic and definition problems: vetting in the framework of post-authoritarian justice; 2. Transition to democracy: a record; 3. A brief history of vetting; 4. Circulation of models and comparison between countries and areas; 5. The phenomenon of lustration in post-communist Europe; 6. Conclusion: vetting as a protection of democracy
Keywords: Конфликтология, политика, право, post-authoritarian societies, политическая стабильность, политический режим, государство, интересы, ценности, безопасность
References:
Di Gregorio, La transizione in Cecoslovacchia: principali profili di diritto costituzionale, in S. Gambino (a cura di), Costituzionalismo europeo e transizioni democratiche, Milano, 2003.
D. Kosař, Lustration and Lapse of Time: ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Czech Republic, in European Constitutional Law Review, vol. 4, issue 3, 2008.
J. Příbáň et al. (eds.), Systems of Justice in Transition: Central European Experiences since 1989, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2003;
V. Cepl, Ritual Sacrifices: Lustration in CSFR, in East European Constitutional Review, Vol. 1, no. 1, 1992;
J. Šiklová, Lustration or the Czech Way of Screening, in M. Krygier, A. W. Czarnota, The Rule of Law after Communism: Problems and Prospects in East-Central Europe, Aldershot, Ashgate, 1999;
C. Offe, Varieties of Transition: the East European and East German Experience, Cambridge, Polity, 1996.
www.ustrcr.cz.
A. Buyse, M. Hamilton (eds.), Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR. Justice, Politics and Rights, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011.
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int.
E. Brems, Transitional Justice in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights, in The International Journal of Transitional Justice, vol. 5, issue 2, 2011;
http://assembly.coe.int//main.asp?link=http://assembly.coe.int/documents/WorkingDocs/doc96/EDOC7568.htm.
http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/adoptedtext/ta96/eres1096.htm.
Democracy and Decommunization: Disqualification Measures in Eastern and Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Rapporteur’s report by Mary Albon, European Commission for Democracy through law, doc. CDL (94)12, Strasbourg, Avril 6, 1994, at www.pjtt.org/assets/pdf/project_reports_pdf/EE/DEMOCRACY%20AND%20DECOMMUNIZATION_%20Venice%201993.pdf.
Williams K., Szczerbiak A., Fowler B., Explaining Lustration in Eastern Europe: ‘A Post-communist politics approach’, cit.
Maria Los, Lustration and Truth Claims: Unfinished Revolutions in Central Europe, in Law & Social Inquiry, Vol. 20, Issue 1, 1995.
Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language, 1904;
J. Rohozińska, Struggling with the Past. Poland’s controversial lustration trials, in www.ce-review.org/00/30/rohozinska30.html, Sept. 11, 2000.
R. David, Lustration and Transitional Justice: Personnel Systems in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
A. Czarnota, Lustration, Decommunisation and the Rule of Law, in Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, no. 1, 2009;
K. Williams, A. Szczerbiak, B. Fowler, Explaining Lustration in Eastern Europe: ‘A Post-communist politics approach’, in Democratization, Vol. 12, Issue 1, February 2005;
R. Boed, An Evaluation of the Legality and Efficacy of Lustration as a Tool of Transitional Justice, in Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 37, no. 2, 1999;
T. Carothers, The ‘sequencing’ fallacy, in Journal of democracy, Vol. 18, no. 1, 2007.
T. Carothers, The end of the transition paradigm, in Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, no. 1, 2002;
Roman David, From Prague to Baghdad: Lustration Systems and their Political Effects, in Government & Opposition, vol. 41, issue 3, June 2006.
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/rights/studies/docs/memory_of_crimes_en.pdf.
Iraqi Opposition Report on the Transition to Democracy, in Journal of Democracy, vol. 14, no. 3, 2003.
P. Allotti, Studi recenti sull’epurazione nel secondo dopoguerra, in Mondo Contemporaneo, n. 1, 2008.
R. Canosa, Storia dell’epurazione in Italia. Le sanzioni contro il fascismo 1943-1948, Milano, Baldini & Castoldi, 1999;
H. Woller, I conti con il fascismo. L’epurazione in Italia 1943-1948, Bologna, il Mulino, 1996;
www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Case-Law.
L. Mezzetti, Teoria e prassi delle transizioni costituzionali e del consolidamento democratico, Cedam, Padova, 2003.
S. Gambino (a cura di), Costituzionalismo europeo e transizioni democratiche, Milano, Giuffré, 2003;
M. Ganino, Democrazia e diritti umani nelle Costituzioni dei Paesi dell’Europa orientale, in M. Ganino, G. Venturini (a cura di), L’Europa di domani. Verso l’allargamento dell’Unione, Milano, Giuffrè, 2002;
G. de Vergottini, Le transizioni costituzionali, Bologna, il Mulino, 1998;
A. Lollini, Constitutionalism and Transitional Justice in South Africa, Oxford-New York, Berghahn Books, 2011.
A. Lollini, Post-Apartheid Constitutionalism, Sant’Anna Legal Studies, n. 3, 2008;
V. Federico, C. Fusaro (eds.), Constitutionalism and democratic transition. Lessons from South Africa, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2006;
E. Hassen, The Soul of a Nation. Constitution Making in South Africa, London/Cape Town, OUP, 1998;
K. Ambos, E. Malarino, G. Elsner (eds.), Justicia de transición. Informes de América Latina, Alemania, Italia y España, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Berlin-Montevideo, 2009.
A. Barahona de Brito, Human Rights and Democratization in Latin America. Uruguay and Chile, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997;
L. Stan (ed.), Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, London/New York, Routledge, 2009.
G. O’Donnell, P. C. Schmitter, L. Whitehead (eds.), Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Vol 1: Southern Europe, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986;
A. Costa Pinto, L. Morlino (eds.), Dealing with the Legacy of Authoritarianism: the ‘Politics of the Past’ in Southern European Democracies, London, Routledge, 2011.
S. Han (ed.), Divided Nations and Transitional Justice: What Germany, Japan and South Korea Can Teach The World, Boulder, Paradigm Publishers, 2012.
J.H. Herz (ed.), From Dictatorship to Democracy: Coping with the Legacies of Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism, Westport, Greenwood Press, 1982;
S.P. Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
J. Almqvist, C. Espósito (eds.), The Role of Courts in Transitional Justice. Voices from Latin America and Spain, Oxford, Routledge, 2011.
W. Sadurski, Rights Before Courts. A Study of Constitutional Courts in Post communist States of Central and Eastern Europe, The Netherlands, Springer, 2005;
M. Safjan, Transitional Justice: The Polish Example, the Case of Lustration, in European Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 1, no. 2, 2007;
P. M. Freeman, D. Marotine, La justice transitionnelle: un aperçu du domaine, in http://es.ictj.org/images/content/8/9/899.pdf., November, 19 2007, p. 19
A. Mayer-Rieckh, P. de Greiff (eds.), Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies, New York, Social Science Research Council, 2007.
A. Di Gregorio, Epurazioni e protezione della democrazia. Esperienze e modelli di “giustizia post-autoritaria” (Vetting and protection of democracy. Experiences and models of ‘post-authoritarian justice’), Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2012.
T.W. Adorno, What Does Coming to Terms with the Past Mean, in G.H. Hartman (ed.), Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1986.
A. Sajó, The Self-Protecting Constitutional State, in East European Constitutional Review, vol. 12, nos. 2/3, 2003
P. Macklem, Militant democracy, legal pluralism, and paradox of self-determination, in International Journal of Constitutional Law, vol. 4, no. 3, 2006.
K. Loewenstein, Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, in The American Political Science Review, vol. 31, nos. 3-4, 1937.
N. J. Kritz (ed.), Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, 3 vols, Washington, U.S. Institute of Peace, 1995.
R. G. Teitel, Transitional Justice, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000.
J. Elster, Closing the Books. Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2004;
J. Elster, Coming to Terms with the Past: A Framework for the Study of Justice in the Transition to Democracy, in Archives Européennes de Sociologie, vol. 39, 1998;
Website of the Institute of National Remembrance www. ipn.gov.pl.
J. Rohozińska, Struggling with the Past, Poland’s controversial lustration trials, cit.;
M. Safjan, Transitional Justice: The Polish Example, the Case of Lustration, in European Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 1, no. 2, 2007.
www.trybunal.gov.pl.
www.freedominfo.org/regions/europe/hungary.
G. Halmai, K. Lane Scheppele, Living Well Is the Best Revenge: the Hungarian Approach to Judging the Past, in A. James McAdams (ed.), Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law in New Democracies, Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press, 1997;
C. Kiss, The Misuses of Manipulation: The Failure of Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Hungary, in Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 58, issue 6, 2006;
E. Barrett, P. Hack, A. Munkacsi, Lustration as Political Competition: Vetting in Hungary, in A. Mayer-Rieckh, P. de Greiff (eds.), Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies, cit.
Vacláv Havel, New Year’s discourse, 1990.
N.J. Kritz (ed.), Transitional Justice, vol. III, cit., pp. 322-334
Cfr. U. Mattei, Three Patterns of Law: Taxonomy and Change in the World’s Legal System, in American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 45, 1997.
Resolution no. 1481 of January 25 2006 On measures to dismantle the heritage of former communist totalitarian systems: http://assembly.coe.int.
References (transliteration):
Di Gregorio, La transizione in Cecoslovacchia: principali profili di diritto costituzionale, in S. Gambino (a cura di), Costituzionalismo europeo e transizioni democratiche, Milano, 2003.
D. Kosař, Lustration and Lapse of Time: ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Czech Republic, in European Constitutional Law Review, vol. 4, issue 3, 2008.
J. Příbáň et al. (eds.), Systems of Justice in Transition: Central European Experiences since 1989, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2003;
V. Cepl, Ritual Sacrifices: Lustration in CSFR, in East European Constitutional Review, Vol. 1, no. 1, 1992;
J. Šiklová, Lustration or the Czech Way of Screening, in M. Krygier, A. W. Czarnota, The Rule of Law after Communism: Problems and Prospects in East-Central Europe, Aldershot, Ashgate, 1999;
C. Offe, Varieties of Transition: the East European and East German Experience, Cambridge, Polity, 1996.
www.ustrcr.cz.
A. Buyse, M. Hamilton (eds.), Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR. Justice, Politics and Rights, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011.
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int.
E. Brems, Transitional Justice in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights, in The International Journal of Transitional Justice, vol. 5, issue 2, 2011;
http://assembly.coe.int//main.asp?link=http://assembly.coe.int/documents/WorkingDocs/doc96/EDOC7568.htm.
http://assembly.coe.int/main.asp?Link=/documents/adoptedtext/ta96/eres1096.htm.
Democracy and Decommunization: Disqualification Measures in Eastern and Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Rapporteur’s report by Mary Albon, European Commission for Democracy through law, doc. CDL (94)12, Strasbourg, Avril 6, 1994, at www.pjtt.org/assets/pdf/project_reports_pdf/EE/DEMOCRACY%20AND%20DECOMMUNIZATION_%20Venice%201993.pdf.
Williams K., Szczerbiak A., Fowler B., Explaining Lustration in Eastern Europe: ‘A Post-communist politics approach’, cit.
Maria Los, Lustration and Truth Claims: Unfinished Revolutions in Central Europe, in Law & Social Inquiry, Vol. 20, Issue 1, 1995.
Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language, 1904;
J. Rohozińska, Struggling with the Past. Poland’s controversial lustration trials, in www.ce-review.org/00/30/rohozinska30.html, Sept. 11, 2000.
R. David, Lustration and Transitional Justice: Personnel Systems in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011.
A. Czarnota, Lustration, Decommunisation and the Rule of Law, in Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, no. 1, 2009;
K. Williams, A. Szczerbiak, B. Fowler, Explaining Lustration in Eastern Europe: ‘A Post-communist politics approach’, in Democratization, Vol. 12, Issue 1, February 2005;
R. Boed, An Evaluation of the Legality and Efficacy of Lustration as a Tool of Transitional Justice, in Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 37, no. 2, 1999;
T. Carothers, The ‘sequencing’ fallacy, in Journal of democracy, Vol. 18, no. 1, 2007.
T. Carothers, The end of the transition paradigm, in Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, no. 1, 2002;
Roman David, From Prague to Baghdad: Lustration Systems and their Political Effects, in Government & Opposition, vol. 41, issue 3, June 2006.
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/doc_centre/rights/studies/docs/memory_of_crimes_en.pdf.
Iraqi Opposition Report on the Transition to Democracy, in Journal of Democracy, vol. 14, no. 3, 2003.
P. Allotti, Studi recenti sull’epurazione nel secondo dopoguerra, in Mondo Contemporaneo, n. 1, 2008.
R. Canosa, Storia dell’epurazione in Italia. Le sanzioni contro il fascismo 1943-1948, Milano, Baldini & Castoldi, 1999;
H. Woller, I conti con il fascismo. L’epurazione in Italia 1943-1948, Bologna, il Mulino, 1996;
www.echr.coe.int/ECHR/EN/Header/Case-Law.
L. Mezzetti, Teoria e prassi delle transizioni costituzionali e del consolidamento democratico, Cedam, Padova, 2003.
S. Gambino (a cura di), Costituzionalismo europeo e transizioni democratiche, Milano, Giuffré, 2003;
M. Ganino, Democrazia e diritti umani nelle Costituzioni dei Paesi dell’Europa orientale, in M. Ganino, G. Venturini (a cura di), L’Europa di domani. Verso l’allargamento dell’Unione, Milano, Giuffrè, 2002;
G. de Vergottini, Le transizioni costituzionali, Bologna, il Mulino, 1998;
A. Lollini, Constitutionalism and Transitional Justice in South Africa, Oxford-New York, Berghahn Books, 2011.
A. Lollini, Post-Apartheid Constitutionalism, Sant’Anna Legal Studies, n. 3, 2008;
V. Federico, C. Fusaro (eds.), Constitutionalism and democratic transition. Lessons from South Africa, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2006;
E. Hassen, The Soul of a Nation. Constitution Making in South Africa, London/Cape Town, OUP, 1998;
K. Ambos, E. Malarino, G. Elsner (eds.), Justicia de transición. Informes de América Latina, Alemania, Italia y España, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Berlin-Montevideo, 2009.
A. Barahona de Brito, Human Rights and Democratization in Latin America. Uruguay and Chile, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997;
L. Stan (ed.), Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, London/New York, Routledge, 2009.
G. O’Donnell, P. C. Schmitter, L. Whitehead (eds.), Transitions from Authoritarian Rule. Vol 1: Southern Europe, Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986;
A. Costa Pinto, L. Morlino (eds.), Dealing with the Legacy of Authoritarianism: the ‘Politics of the Past’ in Southern European Democracies, London, Routledge, 2011.
S. Han (ed.), Divided Nations and Transitional Justice: What Germany, Japan and South Korea Can Teach The World, Boulder, Paradigm Publishers, 2012.
J.H. Herz (ed.), From Dictatorship to Democracy: Coping with the Legacies of Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism, Westport, Greenwood Press, 1982;
S.P. Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
J. Almqvist, C. Espósito (eds.), The Role of Courts in Transitional Justice. Voices from Latin America and Spain, Oxford, Routledge, 2011.
W. Sadurski, Rights Before Courts. A Study of Constitutional Courts in Post communist States of Central and Eastern Europe, The Netherlands, Springer, 2005;
M. Safjan, Transitional Justice: The Polish Example, the Case of Lustration, in European Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 1, no. 2, 2007;
P. M. Freeman, D. Marotine, La justice transitionnelle: un aperçu du domaine, in http://es.ictj.org/images/content/8/9/899.pdf., November, 19 2007, p. 19
A. Mayer-Rieckh, P. de Greiff (eds.), Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies, New York, Social Science Research Council, 2007.
A. Di Gregorio, Epurazioni e protezione della democrazia. Esperienze e modelli di “giustizia post-autoritaria” (Vetting and protection of democracy. Experiences and models of ‘post-authoritarian justice’), Milano, FrancoAngeli, 2012.
T.W. Adorno, What Does Coming to Terms with the Past Mean, in G.H. Hartman (ed.), Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1986.
A. Sajó, The Self-Protecting Constitutional State, in East European Constitutional Review, vol. 12, nos. 2/3, 2003
P. Macklem, Militant democracy, legal pluralism, and paradox of self-determination, in International Journal of Constitutional Law, vol. 4, no. 3, 2006.
K. Loewenstein, Militant Democracy and Fundamental Rights, in The American Political Science Review, vol. 31, nos. 3-4, 1937.
N. J. Kritz (ed.), Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes, 3 vols, Washington, U.S. Institute of Peace, 1995.
R. G. Teitel, Transitional Justice, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000.
J. Elster, Closing the Books. Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2004;
J. Elster, Coming to Terms with the Past: A Framework for the Study of Justice in the Transition to Democracy, in Archives Européennes de Sociologie, vol. 39, 1998;
Website of the Institute of National Remembrance www. ipn.gov.pl.
J. Rohozińska, Struggling with the Past, Poland’s controversial lustration trials, cit.;
M. Safjan, Transitional Justice: The Polish Example, the Case of Lustration, in European Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 1, no. 2, 2007.
www.trybunal.gov.pl.
www.freedominfo.org/regions/europe/hungary.
G. Halmai, K. Lane Scheppele, Living Well Is the Best Revenge: the Hungarian Approach to Judging the Past, in A. James McAdams (ed.), Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law in New Democracies, Notre Dame and London, University of Notre Dame Press, 1997;
C. Kiss, The Misuses of Manipulation: The Failure of Transitional Justice in Post-Communist Hungary, in Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 58, issue 6, 2006;
E. Barrett, P. Hack, A. Munkacsi, Lustration as Political Competition: Vetting in Hungary, in A. Mayer-Rieckh, P. de Greiff (eds.), Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies, cit.
Vacláv Havel, New Year’s discourse, 1990.
N.J. Kritz (ed.), Transitional Justice, vol. III, cit., pp. 322-334
Cfr. U. Mattei, Three Patterns of Law: Taxonomy and Change in the World’s Legal System, in American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 45, 1997.
Resolution no. 1481 of January 25 2006 On measures to dismantle the heritage of former communist totalitarian systems: http://assembly.coe.int.
Eng
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