ABSTRACT
The East Central European record of redressing past crimes has been characterized by a handful of intended effects and plenty of unintended consequences. It, thus, exemplifies a rich set of both malfunctions and intended, manifest, or latent functions of the judicial, nonjudicial and symbolic methods, programs, and practices we have come to label collectively “transitional justice.” In 1989, the new governments in the region pledged to break with the communist practice of infringing fundamental human rights, placing ordinary citizens under surveillance, maintaining a veil of secrecy over deportations, abusive arrests, and unlawful confiscations, confiscating manuscripts from unruly writers, silencing outspoken clergy and faithful, and using political allegiance as the main criterion for hiring and promotion. While free and fair multi-party elections, improved living standards, and the right to visit foreign countries were key popular demands at the time, none was more passionately debated than the need to right the wrongs of the recent past.
