Replication Data for: Transitional justice and the rule of law: Tainted judges and accountability for Nazi crimes in West Germany

Following transitions from authoritarianism, newly democratic governments confront the challenge of dealing with individuals who served the former regime. A prominent argument in the transitional justice literature holds that it is best not to exclude such individuals and to take advantage of their expertise in rebuilding a democratic system. A critical question in this context is whether former collaborators will act in ways that are sufficiently similar to untainted officials. We examine this question by focusing on judges with ties to the Nazi regime in the West German judiciary. We demonstrate that accused Nazi criminals who were charged in courts staffed with a greater proportion of tainted judges had substantially higher odds of escaping conviction. We also show that the appeals process was not able to eliminate this bias. These findings have direct implications for the trade-offs involved in retaining individuals with ties to an authoritarian regime and the connection between transitional justice and the rule of law.威权体制转型后，新生民主政府面临着处置曾为前政权效命者的严峻挑战。转型正义（transitional justice）研究领域的主流观点认为，最优策略并非将这类人员一概排除，而是应善用其专业经验以助力民主体制的重建工作。在此研究语境下，一个核心议题在于：曾与前政权合作过的人员，其履职行为是否会与未受牵连的公职人员存在足够显著的差异？我们以西德司法体系中与纳粹政权存在关联的法官为研究样本，对该议题展开实证检验。研究结果显示，在由更高比例污点法官（tainted judges）组成的法庭受审的被控纳粹战犯，其脱罪概率显著更高。同时我们还发现，上诉程序亦未能消除这一审理偏差。上述研究结论，对留用与威权政权存在关联的人员时所需面临的利弊权衡，以及转型正义与法治（rule of law）之间的内在关联，均具有直接的启示意义。