ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the well-known "Juicio a las Juntas", when an investigatory legal process was set in motion in the first constitutional administration after the military dictatorship in an attempt to come to terms with the recent past. It discusses the contributions and limitations of the Juntas Trial is crucial to my subsequent analysis of the reparative potential of the new criminal proceedings for the victims, many of whom are constantly aware of the difference between the two models of justice. The chapter provides an account of the transition from dictatorship as well as the attempts by the military to obstruct accountability and the shift of the Juntas Trial from the military to the civil courts. It reflects on the social and political relevance of the Juntas Trial in terms of acknowledging the systematic state violence. The chapter focuses extensively on the legal, political and social conditions that limited the scope and reparative potential of the Trial.
