Reflecting on the past is a familiar task, and not only for legal historians. Nevertheless, the recent past of dictatorships is an extremely difficult topic in many respects. In the transition to democracy, several countries worldwide have passed legislation or other measures to ensure that fundamental rights and the rule of law will resist anti-democratic ideologies, anti-Semitism, racism, and war crimes. In these countries, however, the legal establishment and the law itself originated under dictatorship. Thus there are both obvious and hidden anti-democratic continuities affecting the law and the legal sector up until the present time. These continuities and the different approaches to dealing with them will be discussed at this symposium by scholars and lawyers from Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, and Germany.

The lectures will be held in English at the Memorial and Educational Site House of the Wannsee Conference. Due to the pandemic we cannot invite any participants at the house.