Judge Dennis Davis
The Stalin Show Trials: Do They Have More Than Just Historical Interest?
Summary
The lecture explores the concept of political trials, particularly exemplified by Stalin’s regime. It delves into Otto Kirchheimer’s analysis, emphasizing the reconstruction of the past to justify political authority. Stalin’s brutal tactics, including engineered trials and mass executions, illustrate the extreme lengths of totalitarian rule.
Judge Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is a judge of the High Court of South Africa and judge president of the Competition Appeals Court of South Africa. He has held professorial appointments at the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand, as well as numerous visiting appointments at Cambridge, Harvard, New York University, and others. He has authored eleven books, including Lawfare: Judging Politics in South Africa.
Well, he didn’t entirely. After 53, he was in New York and he died rather mysteriously. Most people believe that the Khrushchev regime bumped him off.
Because you are looking for legitimacy. Even Stalin was too as he was playing to an international audience. The Bukharin trial was effectively portrayed for international consumption. A significant measure of international legal opinion was that the trials were fair. It allows Stalin a measure of justification in the broader community.
Well, yes, in theory, but not in practice.