Halmai, Gábor --- "Transitional justice, transitional constitutionalism and constitutional culture" [2018] ELECD 111; in Jacobsohn, Gary; Schor, Miguel (eds), "Comparative Constitutional Theory" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 372

Book Title: Comparative Constitutional Theory

Editor(s): Jacobsohn, Gary; Schor, Miguel

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781784719128

Section: Chapter 19

Section Title: Transitional justice, transitional constitutionalism and constitutional culture

Author(s): Halmai, Gábor

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

Abstract: The chapter discusses the theoretical challenges that legal regulation of transitional justice in transitional constitutions raises when it attempts to reconcile past abuses of constitutionalism. The broader implications of the topic are the challenges that transitional constitutionalism faces when it regulates transitional justice measures. But for both transitional constitutionalism in general, and transitional justice in particular, a certain preexisting constitutional culture is required. Hence, before dealing with the specific constitutional regulations of transitional justice, the chapter discusses the role of constitutional culture in transitional constitutionalism in the specific case of transitional justice. The chapter deals with the transitional justice measures, which are the most interesting from the point of view of constitutional theory: criminal prosecutions and the retroactive application of criminal law, since these are closely related to the principle of the rule of law, emphasized in the texts of new transitional constitutions.