Civilised lustration?: evaluating the Polish model

This article considers how lustration has been operating in Poland since legislation came into force in 1999. It argues that the lustration law has only partially fulfilled its sponsors' objectives. It has certainly forced certain individuals to reveal their links with the communist security services while exposing others that sought to conceal them although the numbers involved are relatively small and there is evidence that others have successfully been able to hide their past associations. The law has helped to curb 'wild' lustration by establishing a clear judicial process to consider all allegations and given some wrongly accused individuals an opportunity to clear their names. However, it is questionable how much the lustration law has helped Poles come to terms with the communist past and has clearly failed to prevent lustration continuing to be used for political purposes. Nonetheless, while most Poles are dissatisfied with the way that the law has operated in practice, they also remain broadly sympathetic to the principle of vetting public officials for links with the communist security services.