Eric Stein Working Paper No 3/2008
David Kosař
Lustration and Lapse of Time: ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Czech Republic
Cite as
David Kosař, "Lustration and Lapse of Time: ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Czech Republic," Eric Stein Working Paper No. 3/2008, available at http://www.ericsteinpapers.eu/papers/2008-3Abstract
One of the most important challenges for the rule of law in the Czech Republic in the period of transition has been the so-called Lustration Acts. The Czech Lustration Acts have been widely acknowledged as one of the most far-reaching among the post-communist countries in the CEE region. As a result, they were met with fierce criticism, not only from foreign and Czech scholars but also from dissidents themselves. However, this paper does not intend to reopen the early debate on the legitimacy of the introduction of the Czech Lustration Acts. Instead, it screens the Czech Lustration Acts against the contemporary jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. This paper concludes that the Czech Lustration Acts might still survive the scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights, but it argues that they should be repealed by the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic as they violate the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms.Keywords
Transitional Justice - Lustration - Vetting Laws - Czech Republic - ‘Dealing with the Past’ in the Post-Communist World - ‘Lapse of Time’ – European Court of Human RightsYou can download the paper here [pdf]
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