The Katyń court case: Stories about history, politics, and words

Abstract

This paper examines the argumentation in the case Janowiec and Others vs. Russia, heard before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECtHR, or Court), primarily based on the hearings with additional references to the two judgments issued. The proffered analysis focuses on the types and forms of argumentation used in the counsels’ oral arguments, as well as their rhetorical strategies and tactics, as based on Douglas Walton’s argumentation schemes and Stephen Toulmin’s model of argumentation. The starting point of the analyzed dispute is the verbal classification of the subject of the dispute, which reflects the different historical perspectives in the narratives about the Katyn crime, as related by the litigating parties and the court. The political and media context of this dispute in the Polish, Russian, and international public space is also considered.