Transitional Justice in Poland: Memory and the Politics of the Past

Description

In this study of the mechanisms of transitional justice in Poland, Frances Millard asks: How does society come to terms with its past? How should it punish the perpetrators of oppression and acknowledge its victims? In the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe the task of answering these questions came down to the need to eliminate the communist parties' hold over the state, the economy and society in order to move towards democracy. Millard argues that the key step in achieving this was uncovering the truth about the previous regime's past, prosecuting the perpetrators of past crimes and providing compensation and restitution for its victims. Through the specific case of Poland, Millard provides a comprehensive assessment of the mechanisms and institutions used to achieve this, such as lustration, law enforcement through a Constitutional Tribunal and institutions dedicated to dealing with the past such as the Institute of National Remembrance. Crucially, these processes have assumed new significance in recent years after the Law and Justice Party came to power in 2015, using transitional justice as a tool of political control which has enabled the restructuring of Polish democracy. Cover Contents List of tables Foreword 1 Approaches to the study of transitional justice Introduction Seeking Historical Justice What is transitional justice? Transitional justice in Central and Eastern Europe The requisites of transitional justice Mechanisms of transitional justice Prosecution Rehabilitation and compensation Restitution Vetting and lustration Investigative commissions and access to files Explanations of post-communist transitional justice Historical approaches Political explanations Rational choice Conclusion 2 The politics of transitional justice in Poland 1989–2015 Introduction The fall of communism Mazowiecki and transitional justice Criminal investigations Personnel policy Rehabilitation of the wrongfully convicted Restitution The Olszewski government The SLD–PSL coalition 1993–7 Lustration Criminal trials Transitional justice 1997–2015 Lustration Compensation for past wrongs SLD governments 2001–5 Law and Justice Changes under the PiS governments The government of Civic Platform 2007–15 Conclusion 3 Reparations through rehabilitation and compensation Introduction Workers’ rights The rehabilitation of individuals The historical sources of persistent division Rehabilitation The New Rehabilitation Laws The Law on combatants and repressed persons The rehabilitation law The evolution of the combatants’ law The evolution of the rehabilitation law Other laws Anti-communist activists The Brześć Trial The Constitutional Tribunal Compensation Conclusion 4 Dealing with past crimes The judicial process The statute of limitations Leadership trials Deaths on the Baltic Coast December 1970: Substantive matters Martial law trials Wujek The decision to implement martial law Issues in the martial law decisions Martial law in the courts The Constitutional Tribunal The martial law trial Conclusion 5 The restitution of property The restitution of collective property The trades unions Religious bodies The Roman Catholic Church The Property Commission Criticism and challenge Allegations of corruption and criminality Other religious bodies Polish Orthodoxy The Jewish communities Other faiths The restoration of individual private property Jewish property Restitution to the people from beyond the Bug The case of Warsaw Conclusion 6 Lustration. The first stage 1989–2005 Introduction Lustration and its implications The first steps The lustration resolution Arguments for lustration Arguments against lustration The SLD after 1993 The government of Jerzy Buzek Lustration under the SLD Wild lustration Conclusion 7 Lustration after the fall of the SLD: The return of the Right PiS in power 2005 The judgment of May 2007 Lustration and the Roman Catholic Church Lustration under Civic Platform The lustration process The costs of lustration The files Lustration under PiS The Bolek Affair (cont.) Lustration: The final stages Conclusion 8 History and memory. The Institute of National Remembrance Structure and functions of the IPN The Archive: Access to files The Main Commission Lustration and the role of the IPN The Bureau of Education and The righting of history Historical politics The spaces of memory Structural changes under PiS Conclusion 9 The Constitutional Tribunal The early years 1989–97 The TK after the new Constitution 1997–2001 The SLD Government of 2001–5 The Tribunal in 2005–7 The TK under Civic Platform 2008–15 Civic Platform’s court-packing efforts Law and Justice in the ascendant The law on the Constitutional Tribunal of July 2016 Conclusion 10 From transitional justice to social engineering The Constitutional Tribunal Changes in the judiciary The National Judicial Council The tenure of Supreme Court judges The lower courts Capturing the media Poland and the European Union New roles for the IPN History and memory The Law on the Holocaust Patriotic education Museums as bearers of memory The Institute of Solidarity and Valour Naming places Conclusion Conclusion: Some reflections on the justice of transitional justice Notes Bibliography Index