Little Confessions of Socialist Justice

In the context of some of the nominations for new judges to the Constitutional Court, it has become evident that there is uncertainty regarding how the crimes of the judiciary under communism were addressed. What happened to those who were involved in political trials after November 1989? Can judges who have committed injustices continue to make decisions about people’s fates?
The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Pavel Molek, a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court. His guests will be JUDr. Josef Baxa, President of the Constitutional Court, prof. JUDr. Zdeněk Kühn, Ph.D., LL.M., S.J.D., judge of the Constitutional Court, and Luděk Navara, historian and writer.

Pavel Molek is a judge and a member of the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science at the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University. He has authored several legal monographs, primarily focusing on human rights. As a co-editor and author, he contributed to the book “Komunistické právo v Československu: kapitoly z dějin bezpráví”. He writes radio and theater plays.

Josef Baxa is the President of the Constitutional Court. He became a judge in 1984 and, after November 1989, he dealt with, among other things, the rehabilitation of convicts in the 1950s. He was the first president of the Supreme Administrative Court, and he significantly influenced the selection of its members. In 2023, he was appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court and later became its president.

Zdeněk Kühn is a legal theorist and a judge of the Constitutional Court. He is a professor of legal theory and teaches at Charles University and also lectures abroad. He has authored several monographs on justice and the judicial interpretation of law. Since 2008, he has served as a judge of the Supreme Administrative Court and in 2023 he was appointed as a judge of the Constitutional Court.

Luděk Navara is a historian, writer, columnist, and screenwriter. His primary focus is on the crimes of Nazism and Communism. He co-founded “Paměť”, a civic association dedicated to mapping the stories of the second half of the 20th century. He authored three volumes of a book called “Příběhy železné opony” and several other books.

Programme will be held in czech.