ABSTRACT
The Spanish model of transition from dictatorship to democracy, so praised and exemplary in many aspects, left an essential area forgotten: the possibility, both legal and material, of at least recognising, rehabilitating, and restoring the dignity of the victims of human rights violations committed by the State during the Franco dictatorship. This ‘unfinished transition’ is reflected in the way in which the holdings that bear witness to this institutional repression were managed, especially in the field of military justice imposed through the so-called ‘summary trials’. The acceptance or denial by society of the need to introduce policies for the recovery of the historical memory in Spain is highly dependent upon changes in political control in the country, and the proposals which follow in their wake greatly affect any real development, also in the field of archives: fundamental instruments for guaranteeing access to documentation which would permit both accountability and the protection of fundamental rights.
