Amnesty laws

The word amnesty comes from the Greek word “amnestia”, which means “oblivion” and is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “the act of an authority (as government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals”. EU member states have adopted these type of laws to deal with their repressive pasts. While some of states have used them to free prisoners of the repressive regime, others have granted amnesties to the perpetrators themselves. In this section you will find what countries have adopted this measure and whether it was used to cover victims or perpetrators or both. By clicking in each country, information on the scope of the laws will be shown below the map.

Click here for a selected bibliography on the use of amnesty laws.