| Summary: | This volume asks how we as individuals and as a society ought to deal with crimes committed in the distant past. The wrongs addressed include crimes that have targeted individuals, such as sexual abuse, and crimes that have targeted groups, such as war crimes. The authors argue that although these categories of crimes have typically been treated as unrelated, they raise a number of interrelated issues that are obscured if these prosecutions are considered in isolation. To reveal commonalities, the authors explore the philosophical basis for punishment, the legal and psychological aspects of recovered memory, the impact on victims of delayed prosecution, the role of statutes of limitations in constraining prosecution, and the rationale for pardon and amnesty. Moral issues associated with agency and responsibility on the part of the wrongdoer and with forgiveness and mercy on the part of the victim are also considered. Concrete examples drawn from domestic and international law highlight the psychological, moral, and legal concerns that must be weighed in the decision to prosecute or forgive past injustice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).
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