ABSTRACT
Slovenia provides an interesting case study in transitional justice, because in that country swift and secure democratization was achieved while injustices of the communist past have yet to be dealt with. It may be that in order to ensure the continued vitality of the country’s democracy, the Slovenian government should strive to ensure that people who committed crimes under the communist regime are unable to protect themselves through the use of their own political power. However, after almost two decades of post-communism, Slovenia has maintained a stable liberal democracy that has not been put into question due to lack of transitional justice measures. To be sure, there have been moments of political concern and public scandal regarding lustration and secret police file access. As of early 2008 there is no lustration legislation, and access to secret service files has been curtailed through a privacy law that protects even those public figures who may have grossly violated the law. There have not been any prominent trials launched against communist decision-makers and former secret spies. The fact that transitional justice was not dealt with in a comprehensive manner could speak to concerns with the rule of law, the state of the justice system, or simply the lack of public interest towards the subject.1 The scandals that have surrounded lustration and file access issues, including the clandestine release of secret police file information in 2003, and the many unanswered questions related to lustration still periodically arouse public interest.
