At the century's end, societies all over the world are throwing off the yoke of authoritarian
rule and beginning to build democracies. At any such time of radical change, the question
arises: should a society punish its ancien regime or let bygones be bygones? Transitional
Justice takes this question to a new level with an interdisciplinary approach that challenges
the very terms of the contemporary debate. Ruti Teitel explores the recurring dilemma of how
regimes should respond to evil rule, arguing against the prevailing view favoring …

This chapter proposes a genealogy of transitional justice. Transitional justice is the
conception of justice associated with periods of political change, characterized by legal
responses to confront the wrongdoings of repressive predecessor regimes. The chapter
traces the historical pursuit of justice in periods of political flux, reviewing the political
developments of the last half-century and analyzing the evolution of the conception of
transitional justice. It contends that a genealogy of transitional justice demonstrates, over …