ABSTRACT
I have argued for transcending the hurdles to judicial accountability for the past in view of the need to achieve comprehensive accountability and transformation of the judiciary. This, I have stated, is required for proper positioning of the judiciary for its considerably important role in the post-authoritarian transition. This chapter addresses the propriety of securing judicial accountability for the past through a truth-seeking process in transitional societies. However, the proposition on holding judges to accounts through a truthseeking process as a form of accountability for the past suggested is easily contentious. There are a number of hurdles that make the prospect somewhat daunting. A key concern might be that of conceptualizing how such a process will work given the near-impossibility of any viable example. ‘Nearimpossibility’ because an attempt was at least made by the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).1
