122 uL stration and eV tting in post-communist Albania inter-linked with civic trust in governmental institutions the anticipated transparency about past wrongdoings, nor the rise in trust in governmental institutions. Therefore, in this article I will investigate how lustration laws have led to hearing or commissions of Verification Commission in 1995-2001 that could have initiated trials and revelations of past wrongdoings, whether and if those responsible for these wrongdoings have been held to account or not and to what extent this links to democratic reforms and civic trust in governmental institutions. TJ measures are closely linked to (re-)building trust in governmental institutions and thus knowing the truth and the facts about the past and naming those who had been responsible for the wrongdoings, is part of the trust-building process. Civic trust means “a high level of civic trust in political institutions based on active participation by citizens”2 and “civic trust is only fully established when the once victimized can freely and safely interact with the former victimizers and the institutions of the new political regime” 3. Lustration and vetting decision (according to the Laws) should be taken by independent and transparent institutions, legal, political and civil ones. Therefore, this article investigates which actors, institutions were involved in setting up the laws, following and implementing them or denying them and what concrete actions such as trials, commissions, hearing, parliamentarian debates, media debates, and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) activities have taken place. Political disagreement about lustration laws such as Genocide and Verification Law and the changes made in these laws several times from Albanian parliament did not let to have impartially and transparent institutions to take decisions. Lustration and vetting measures will not be effectively implemented if the debate will be conducted in placing blame only in one side. In addition, a process of building a common narrative or consensus about the past is essential for TJ measures implementation. Albanian debate about lustration and vetting procedures was conducted in accusing each other and no consensus about the past wrongdoers, affecting so the implementation of lustration and vetting and the contribution in delegitimizing the past regime and legitimizing the new regime. The debates about past wrongdoers was blaming each other and strong opposition in approving TJ laws. TJ laws such as Lustration and vetting has been proposed and approved only by the MPs from the party in power, with harsh objection from the opposition. For an effective implementation process of vetting and lustration, the engagement of citizens, victims, victimizers, domestic or international stakeholders is essential. The newborn democratic institutions should provide the participations of all actors in the process. The engagement of Albanian victim groups and civil society such former prisoners, academia, citizens in vetting and lustration process effected its implementation. Contributing or not in rising civic trust in governmental institutions. The misuse of the process of lustration and vetting procedures from politics in Albania affected the civic trust in democratic institutions. Hence, I argue that legal TJ measures such as Genocide, Verification and lustration laws process is inter-linked with civic trust in governmental institutions. 2. Anja Mihr ‘Introduction to Transitional Justice’, in Oliviera Simic (ed) Introduction to Transitional Justice, Routledge 2017, pp: 1-27 3. Anja Mihr Policy Brief No.3 Center of Governance through Human Rights, , August 2017 pg.5 : https://www.governance-platform. org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CoGtHR_policy-brief_no3_TransitionalJustice_August2017.pdf

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