ABSTRACT
Political trials bring together for public consideration society's basic contradictions, through an examination of competing values and loyalties. Political trials differ from ordinary trials in the questions they raise. Criminal trials with no political agenda naturally raise difficult questions of law. Trials of ethnic nationalists, from the Spanish Inquisition against the Jews to the "terrorist" trials in South Africa under apartheid, can become a step in the establishment of domination or elimination. Partisan trials carry the stamp of despotism, while political trials within the rule of law presume that all are equal before the law. Political trials which proceed within the rule of law have their corresponding partisan trials. The issue in all partisan trials is the same: expediency in the use of power. Any attempt to arrive at a typology involves a Procrustean effort to fit unique cases into a few pigeonholes. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
