Application of Transitional Justice Mechanisms in Ongoing Armed Conflict: The Case of Donbas

The proposed paper will present main finding of a research project conducted by the author in 2017-2019. The project had two fundamental goals. The first one is exploratory. The project was aimed to study in details the approach of Ukraine’s authorities to design and implementation of transitional justice policies addressing the legacy of the Donbas conflict. The second goal was to use the obtained knowledge to verify the existing theoretical expectations referring to transitional justice applied in the circumstances of ongoing conflict. Taking into account that the Donbas conflict remains unresolved, and one can hardly indicate any symptom of the possibility to find a solution in foreseeable future, the findings of mentioned research project rather reveal the picture of what can be called ‘transitional justice in the making’. As the final shape of post-conflict justice modality remains unknown, I look at the process at a certain moment of time, assuming that it may determine future development by limiting possibilities of further dynamics. More specifically, the paper will present main tendencies in the evolution of approach of Ukrainian authorities to three policy domains: (1) retributive justice; (2) restorative justice and (3) truth-seeking. Basing on ontological and epistemological assumptions of complexity theory, the paper will present an attempt to reveal causal mechanisms that has driven the evolution of these policies, including mutual causal connections between mentioned domains as well as impacts of environment. All in all, the paper will present one of the first attempts to create a comprehensive picture of a novel and yet unstudied case of Ukrainian state’s dealing with the legacy of the Donbas conflict.