THE STATE OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Autor razmatra političko-filozofske, etičke i pravne implikacije sudskog procesa, na kojem su u kolovozu 1997. bivši članovi Politbiroa Jedinstvene socijalistič ke partije nekadašnje Demokratske Republike Njemačke osuđeni na zatvorske kazne kao odgovorni za ubojstva koja su počinili istočnonjemački graničari pokušavajući spriječiti bijeg pojedinaca na Zapad. Pravna utemeljenost te presude je dvojbena, ne samo zato što se protivi zabrani retroaktivnog djelovanja pravnih propisa, nego i stoga što nedopušteno pretpostavlja univerzalno važenje zapadnog razumijevanja ljudskih prava. Ako se htjelo pravnim sredstvima reagirati na ono što su sa zapadnog stajališta bila nepravedna djelovanja u komunistič kom sustavu, onda se istaknute predstavnike tog sustava trebalo, u skladu s ratnim pravom, tretirati kao neprijatelje poražene u (hladnom) ratu.The author analyses political, philosophical, ethical and legal implications of the trial in which, in August of 1997, some former members of the Politburo of the United Socialist Party of the former Democratic Republic of Germany were sentenced to prison terms after they had been found guilty for the murders committed by the East German border patrols when trying to prevent people from fleeing to the West. The legal grounds for such a sentence is dubious, not only because it runs counter to the ban on the retroactive enforcement of legal provisions but also because it presupposes the universal validity of the western concept of human rights. If the intention was to react legally to what, from the Western point of view were unpardonable acts during the communist reign, then the most prominent representatives of that system should have been — in accordance with wartime law — treated as the enemies defeated in a (cold) war