Lustration Process Research Articles

A history of post-communist remembrance: from memory politics to the emergence of a field of anticommunism

This article invites the view that the Europeanization of an antitotalitarian “collective memory” of communism reveals the emergence of a field of anticommunism. This transnational field is inextricably tied to the proliferation of state-sponsored and anticommunist memory institutes across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), but cannot be treated as epiphenomenal to their propagation. The diffusion of bodies tasked with establishing the “true” history of communism reflects, first and foremost, a shift in the region’s approach to its past, one driven by the right’s frustration over an allegedly pervasive influence of former communist cliques. Memory institutes spread as the CEE right progressively perceives their emphasis on research and public education as a safer alternative to botched lustration processes. However, the field of anticommunism extends beyond diffusion by seeking to leverage the European Union institutional apparatus to generate previously unavailable forms of symbolic capital for anticommunist narratives. This results in an entirely different challenge, which requires reconciling of disparate ideological and national interests. In this article, I illustrate some of these nationally diverse, but internationally converging, trajectories of communist extrication from the vantage point of its main exponents: the anticommunist memory entrepreneurs, who are invariably found at the helm of memory institutes. Inhabiting the space around the political, historiographic, and Eurocratic fields, anticommunist entrepreneurs weave a complex web of alliances that ultimately help produce an autonomous field of anticommunism.

Possible ways to increase the efficiency of the institution of power lustration in Ukraine

It has been emphasized that lustration (purification of power) was once chosen as one of the main mechanisms for resetting all branches of power in Ukraine. The national legislation, which is the legal basis for the functioning of the mechanisms for the purification of power in Ukraine, has been analyzed. It has been clarified that the domestic mechanism of government lustration is ineffective, since in many cases it harmed the interests of the state and society in general. It has been stated that the majority of the ruling elite was never lustrated, and those who were under lustration processes were renewed in their positions as a result of court decisions. The result of such renewals was material compensation (sometimes several dozens or even hundreds of thousands of hryvnias) for the period of so-called forced absence. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the Ukraine’s violation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms dated from November 4, 1950 within the application of mechanisms of power lustration has been studied. The author has emphasized the need for increasing the efficiency and developing mechanisms of power lustration existing for a long period of time. It has been noted that the state is showing excessive activity in the formation and implementation of mechanisms for the purification of power, aimed not at eliminating existing shortcomings, but at expanding the list of persons subject to lustration. Such approaches to the purification of power, being ineffective, contradict a number of standards recognized by the world community. Ways to increase the efficiency of the institution of power lustration in Ukraine have been determined. It has been argued that it is expedient to use such mechanisms of purification of power that have a personalized addressee. It has been noted that establishing the guilt of a particular official in committing an offense in the field of his professional activity may result in his removal from office and a ban on holding this position in the future. It has been established that all the standards of purification of power will be observed in this case: the guilt will be personal, an individual objective investigation will be carried out, and the person will be able to use all the mechanisms to protect own rights.

Features of development of lustration process in Ukraine after presidential elections the 2019: analysis and development perspectives

Features of development of lustration process in Ukraine after presidential elections the 2019: analysis and development perspectives

THE LUSTRATION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE POLISH HUNTING ASSOCIATION (PZŁ) FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE LAW AND THE PRACTICE

The lustration process is a legal procedure that exposes the fact work or service in the bodies of state security or cooperation with such bodies in the years 1944-1990. Persons performing public functions or the candidate to perform those functions are subject to such procedure. The Polish legislator has decided that it also applies to the members of certain private organisations/ associations, including the Polish Hunters Association (PZŁ). Members of the PZŁ who wish to be candidates in the election for delegates to the meetings of PZŁ delegates or to perform functions in the bodies of the PZŁ Association and hunter’s associations, even though they are not public figures within the meaning of the Article 115 of the Criminal Code, have to undergo the processes of lustration. Such an obligation results from the provisions of the Act on the disclosure of the work or service in the bodies of state security or cooperation with such bodies in the years 1944-1990 by persons performing public functions. The abovementioned Act was amended and introduced new provisions (Article 33d) to the Hunting Act in order to apply the analyzed procedure. The article presents legal conditions and factual situations as well as the principles and the process of lustration among hunters.

Люстрація в Україні як засіб легітимації нового політичного режиму.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the lustration process in Ukraine in 2014-2018 from the point of view of solving certain instrumental tasks by this process. Examples of successful lustration processes in Poland and the Czech Republic are analyzed. Authors determined the main intentions of the new political forces, that got the power after the Revolution of Dignity in the introduction and formation of the features of the lustration mechanism by the Law of Ukraine “On the purification of power”. The authors tried to show that the lustration processes in Ukraine in he present conditions have the features of the only means of legitimizing the “new political regime”, which creates a certain manifestation and some illusion of the purge of power. It is determined that the process of lustration in Ukraine is defined by the following factors: – the application of measures for the purge of power is carried out from the standpoint of the presumption of guilt, and the for guilt the activities of “criminal authority of Viktor Yanukovych”; – lustration is not carried out on the basis of the principle of individual responsibility; – in Ukraine there is no single independent lustration agency and clear time limits for lustration; – Ukrainian citizens are not interested in the process of lustration, don’t have information about the number of lusters, have no access to information about the results of inspections of public figures, and generally do not realize the relevance of lustration more than 20 years after the proclamation of independence. It is suggested that the Law of Ukraine “On the purification of power” in its current form is a kind of continuation of the false tradition of concluding informal agreements with the elites as a means of preserving the monopoly of public authority and the corresponding rent in visually democratic framework. The authors have analyzed the political-legal conflicts that arise from attempts to apply the Law of Ukraine “On the purification of power” to certain categories of officials, since the nature of the tasks performed by some political institutions or authorities makes it almost impossible to apply to their employees or members of this Law. The authors have attempted to demonstrate the complexity of the application of the Law “On the purification of power” on the example of members of the High Qualifications Commission of Judges of Ukraine.

Men of Paper: Polish Lustration Law and Its Faulty? Biographical Basis

This article describes how, in contemporary Poland, the questionable nature of the materials in the formerly secret police files is sometimes forgotten, most significantly in the process of lustration. It attempts to explain why the public would support lustration laws and/or engage in gossip stemming from the files, despite knowing their shortcomings. After briefly summarizing the long process by which agreement was reached concerning the Polish lustration bill, and describing some of the unique qualities of Polish lustration, the article presents arguments for why the formerly secret police files might be popularly accepted as the foundation used for the judicial process. The main justification discussed is found in literary and scholarly attempts to read the files biographically and to use them as inspiration for new biographies. The article shows that scholarly queries into secret police files as historically useful sources coincide with Polish popular interest in non-fiction literature and memoirs. I propose that fitting the police files within the already popular genre of biography offers entertainment value, while at the same time offering the documents legitimacy. This article shows that whereas scholars and authors of popular memoirs treat the files within a range of possibilities, the lustration process has room only for a straight forward reading of a file as a truthful story about an individual.

Люстрація в країнах Чорноморського регіону: порівняльний аналіз

Стаття присвячена дослідженню особливостей люстраційних процесів у країнах Чорноморського регіону. Автор аналізує процеси люстрації в таких країнах як: Албанія, Болгарія, Грузія, Румунія, Молдова; характеризує особливості виходу кожної з цих країн із зони впливу Радянського Союзу, прослідковує тенденції люстраційних змін у цих країнах та порівнює ці політичні процеси з тими, які відбуваються зараз в Україні. Детально проаналізовано роботи сучасних та вітчизняних науковців з даної тематики та виявлено, що вперше у науковому дискурсі дається порівняльний аналіз саме люстраційних процесів у країнах колишнього соціального табору та України, тому що лише ці країни зіштовхнулися з проблемою докорінних змін, повалення радянської системи управління та відбудови держави за новою схемою. Крім того, що автор досліджує шляхи досягнення люстрації у країнах Чорноморського регіону, він дає своє бачення процесам люстрації в нашій державі. Характеризує поняття люстрації та наводить різностороннє тлумачення цього поняття. Зокрема автор вказує, що основна хвиля зміни влади припала на 1989 р., коли за лічені місяці в регіоні було знищено кілька прорадянських комуністичних режимів. Орієнтиром на шляху до реформ європейських держав служила система західної демократії та правової держави. Проте на шляху до демократизації кожна з країн колишнього соціалістичного табору мала позбутися старих норм та законів правління, більшість з них вдалися до люстраційних процесів. В ході роботи автор дійшов висновку, що кожна з країн Чорноморського регіону мала свої тенденції у питанні люстрації, але автор підтвердив таку гіпотезу: чим менший вплив на ту чи іншу країну мав Радянський Союз, тим легитимнішим був процес люстрації у цій країні. На відміну від Румунії, Албанії, Болгарії, де люстраційні процеси проходили в 1980-1990 рр., то в Україні питання люстрації підіймалось тільки після «Помаранчевої революції» 2004 р. Поте люстраційні процеси в Україні в 2000-х рр. розглядались як ситуативний інструмент досягнення політичними силами своїх інтересів. Автор доводить, що з 2014 р. в нашій державі розпочався справжній процес люстрації.

Lustration Beyond Decommunization: Responding to the Crimes of the Powerful in Post-Euromaidan Ukraine

The 2014 Euromaidan revolution, which started as a non-violent demonstration for European integration, eventually gave rise to a nation-wide movement against the usurpation of power, corruption, and human rights violations. One of the main demands of Euromaidan protesters to the new government was to launch a comprehensive personnel reform that would cleanse the state apparatus from public officials of the Communist era (1919–1991) and those affiliated with the Yanukovych regime (2010–2014). This article examines the lustration process in post-Euromaidan Ukraine through the prism of earlier personnel reforms, mainly in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and discusses the similarities and differences between them. The analysis focuses on two key features that make the Ukrainian case stand out across CEE lustrations. First, Ukraine's lustration reconciled transitional justice with socio-economic imperatives, such as the fight against corruption, not only as a discursive practice but also a legal matter. Second, unlike CEE lustrations the Ukrainian government implemented lustration 23 years after the fall of Communism and during the ongoing military confrontation in eastern Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions (Donbas). The article contributes to the literature on the evolution of transitional justice which has expanded far beyond the conventional redress for past human rights violations and may now incorporate peacebuilding and structural justice agendas.

Moralne aspekty lustracji. O destrukcji moralności przez prawo i niekonstytucyjności pewnych form lustracji

Artykuł przedstawia polskie regulacje prawne z lat 1998-2007 będące podstawą lustracji. Analizuje szereg aktów prawnych prezentując zakładane cele lustracji, jej zakres, procedury i przewidywane sankcje karne (administracyjne). Celem autora jest identyfikacja aksjologicznych podstaw regulacji prawnych dotyczących lustracji. W trakcie analiz wskazuje on m. in. na brak proporcji między sankcjami karnymi a winą jednostek, zwłaszcza w niektórych przypadkach penalizacji oświadczeń lustracyjnych niezgodnych z prawdą lub penalizacji niezłożenia oświadczeń. Autor argumentuje także, że analizowane rozwiązania zakładały – wbrew deklarowanym celom – przeniesienie odpowiedzialności za zło systemu politycznego z jego aktywnych twórców na jednostki wbrew woli poddane działaniu tego systemu. Ponadto argumentuje, że lustracja oparta na przeprowadzanym przez państwo „teście moralności” radykalnie ingeruje w wewnętrzną sferę moralności jednostki i stąd zakłada elementy typowe dla aksjologii systemów totalitarnych; państwo nakazuje dokonać działania, które bezpośrednio i wprost zmierza do realizacji ściśle wewnętrznej wartości moralnej opartej na zgodności oświadczenia z przekonaniami, i jednocześnie państwo ustanawia siebie nie tylko obserwatorem i sędzią realizacji tej wartości, ale także autorem wzorca przekonań, z którymi oświadczenie ma być zgodne.

Post-Communist Transitional Justice in Albania

The article provides a detailed and informative account of the transitional justice process in Albania and examines the logic behind the initiation of lustration process. Describing the accurate historical context of the country's communist past, the authors explain the factors that prevented the successful implementation of the post-communist transitional justice in Albania, such as its political culture, the impact of the communist regime, and most importantly, the lack of political will from Albanian political leadership to break away from its communist past. A pioneer in initiating transitional justice laws in the Balkans in the early nineties, Albania failed to successfully implement them, as the leadership saw the lustration process as a political means to crush the opposition and consolidate its power. The article explains that transitional justice process in Albania became highly politicized and was used by politicians for political gains, which ultimately led to loss of trust from general public failing to detach the Albanian political scene from its communist past.

In exchange for truth: The polish lustrations and the South African amnesty process*

Poland and South Africa have each inherited a similar legacy of human rights violations perpetrated by previous authoritarian regimes; they each underwent complicated political transitions and used similar methods of dealing with the remnants of their previous regimes. South Africa granted amnesty from criminal prosecution to perpetrators in exchange for truth about their involvement in the violations of the past. In Poland leading public posts were granted in accordance with the same principle of truth exchange. However, existing frameworks for the study of transitional justice do not allow for immediate comparison of the relative benefits and pitfalls of granting amnesty to criminals vis-à-vis measures to provide public sector employment. This paper extends the existing framework of transitional justice and applies it to the study of the major policy choices of the Polish lustration process (1999–2002) and the South African amnesty process (1996–2000). They encompass components such as the formal scope of truth, the choice of particular procedures, sanctions, transparency and impartiality. The comparison provides us with a more nuanced understanding of the institutional mechanisms that allow for the utilisation of the meaning of truth in complicated transitions from authoritarian regimes. *The original version of the paper was presented at the joint annual meeting of the Law & Society Association and the Canadian LSA in Vancouver in 2002.

Purging the past: The Current State of Lustration Laws in the Former Communist Bloc

Following the 1989 “democratic revolutions,” there was an immediate, though not surprising, backlash against former communist regimes. Throughout Eastern Europe, it was widely perceived that former Communists could not be trusted to carry out democratic reforms. In this context, an important debate surfaced that focused on questions of culpability for crimes committed by former Communist regimes. Options ranged from providing amnesty or pardon, prosecuting individuals, or outlawing the Communist Party. Indeed, many of the newly constituted governments reacted swiftly by outlawing the Party, prosecuting anyone deemed to have had connections to the Party or the Secret Police, or restricting those individuals from certain government and non-government posts. Lustration laws, though controversial, remain the most commonly used device for screening and “prosecuting” former Communist leaders, candidates for office, and selected public employees. These laws, which generally rely on information contained in Secret Police files, are used to determine whether suspected individuals collaborated with the former state security service. The international community has generally opposed the lustration process. This article presents a brief overview of the current status of such laws and regulations in the former Communist Bloc.

Lustration as a Problem of the Social Basis of Constitutionalism

One part of building a new constitution after wars, revolutions, civil wars, or dramatic regime changes is to draw a cultural boundary in time, declaring various aspects of the old regime illegitimate and various legalities and constitutional principles of the new regime legitimate. One part of that process, in turn, is to decide how the new regime should treat the guilt of individuals for terror, collaboration, betrayal of information to the regime, and the like. This essay argues that such lustration processes should be a very minor part of the definition of the meaning of the past, and even less of a part of building social supports under the new constitution. It also assesses the contributions on lustration in this issue in light of this view of what place lustration should play in the construction of democratic constitutions after authoritarian regimes.

Lustration as a Problem of the Social Basis of Constitutionalism

One part of building a new constitution after wars, revolutions, civil wars, or dramatic regime changes is to draw a cultural boundary in time, declaring various aspects of the old regime illegitimate and various legalities and constitutional principles of the new regime legitimate. One part of that process, in turn, is to decide how the new regime should treat the guilt of individuals for terror, collaboration, betrayal of information to the regime, and the like. This essay argues that such lustration processes should be a very minor part of the definition of the meaning of the pat, and even less of a part of building social supports under the new constitution. It also assesses the contributions on lustration in this issue in light of this view of what place lustration should play in the construction of democratic constitutions after authoritarian regimes.