The contribution examines the relationship between transitional justice and reconciliation in Bosnia. The author aims to answer the question how, to what extent and on the basis of what mechanisms transitional justice contributes to reconciliation. First, the term "transitional justice" and its mechanisms (war criminal trials, truth-telling, reparations and institutional reform including vetting) will be introduced. Thereafter, their application in Bosnia will be analyzed and critically evaluated in relation to theories of reconciliation. The author concludes that transitional justice in contributes to reconciliation in Bosnia only in a limited way because of its low trustworthiness, its low visibility and the overly small invesments in its measures. To bring about a societal change transitional justice needs to be implemented better, in a more thorough and sensitive way and especially visibly, above all in terms of restorative justice and truth telling.
