"Transitional justice": general characteristics

Abstract

The subject of the study is a special procedural mechanism for establishing the circumstances of the commission of genocide and other crimes against humanity during the functioning of various totalitarian regimes that widely use the practice of mass violations of human rights, the ideology of historical exclusivity, and the destruction of civil society institutions. Usually we are talking about states that have survived dictatorship or war, so the center of judicial knowledge is, first of all, precedents of gross violations of the rules of warfare, torture, mass executions, slavery. The declared goals of "transitional justice" are the rehabilitation of victims of repression. The authors conducted a study of the activities of special judicial presences and truth and reconciliation commissions, summarized the mediation experience implemented in the states of Africa and Southeast Asia. The research methodology is based on the principles of dialectical cognition, as well as a wide range of general scientific and private scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, legal comparative studies). The main conclusions of the study are concentrated around the specifics of the subject jurisdiction of conciliation commissions and tribunals, covering only acts of violence against the civilian population. For the first time, the authors have assessed the effectiveness of these institutions in a number of states. The various methodologies that make up "transitional justice" usually combine the "healing" measures of restorative justice (truth and reconciliation commissions) and a parallel system of punitive justice (mainly against those primarily responsible for the most serious crimes and their direct perpetrators). The text of the article substantiates that the activities carried out within the framework of "transitional justice" are aimed at reforming social institutions by restoring the rule of law and ensuring the functioning of constitutionally established judicial bodies in the future.