Transitional Justice in Macedonia and its Relations with Democracy
Transitional Justice in Macedonia and its Relations with Democracy

Author(s): Elmina Kulasic
Subject(s): Law and Transitional Justice, Governance
Published by: Центар за истражување и креирање политики
Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on the transitional process in a society which has experienced a violent conflict and needs adequate mechanisms to deal with the legacies of the past in order to prevent future violence and pave the way for reconciliation and democratic consolidation. The disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia) and its legacy has left a number of newly emerged and independent democracies in the Western Balkan region to cope with grave violations of human rights. The bloodshed in Croatia and Serbia, and the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina lead to the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The jurisdiction of ICTY was extended to Macedonia and the 2001 conflict; however, the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) inclusion of an Amnesty Law raises a number of questions related to the process of reconciliation and transitional justice mechanisms. In The Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia), the need and importance to promote understanding, tolerance and peace for all within the country has been sidelined in the OFA because the main goal was to end the violence, accentuating peace over justice. As a result, OFA focus on political representation and ethnic power-sharing has neglected past grievances and atrocities which are of utmost importance in order for a society to move forward with its democratic consolidation.As such, this paper will look at the mechanisms of transitional justice and its relations with democracy. Its aim is to argue that a long-term approach steaming from the different mechanisms of transitional justice is imperative for democratic consolidation and stable inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia.

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