Politicile justiției de tranziție în România: evaluări și perspective
Transitional Justice Policies in Romania: Evaluations and Perspectives

Summary/Abstract: This study analyses the evolution and effectiveness of transitional justice policies in post-communist Romania, investigating how the state and society have addressed the legacy of the totalitarian regime. The research substantiates the hypothesis of a structural paradox, conceptualized herein as „anti-communist conformism”: the coexistence of a trans-ideological public discourse centred on the ritualistic condemnation of communism with a profoundly deficient institutional and legal track record. This conformism has operated as an instrument for political legitimation and the accumulation of symbolic capital, effectively instrumentalizing and frequently neutralizing the implementation of reparative and punitive measures. Through a multidimensional approach, the paper critically evaluates the primary instruments of transitional justice: the systemic failure of criminal accountability mechanisms regarding regime crimes and the 1989 Revolution, the deficiencies of property restitution policies (restitutio in integrum), the fragmented access to the former Securitate archives, and the constitutional blockages that invalidated lustration attempts. The findings reveal a major structural asymmetry. On one hand, the political and legal dimensions experienced systemic regression, generating unforeseen socio-economic consequences and numerous condemnations by the European Court of Human Rights. On the other hand, academic historiography and independent cultural production have successfully delivered a rigorous deconstruction of the repressive apparatus. The study concludes that, given the legal and demographic exhaustion of retributive justice, the focus of decommunization irreversibly shifts toward educational policies and the consolidation of a democratic collective memory.

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