Despite having lost their public significance in the contemporary moment, trials have played a vital role in the (re)construction of European nation-states and national identity at various historical turning points. One may suspect, however, that trials are no longer an important part of European identity making in the current moment, especially with the institutionalization of legal matters through the mediation of the European Union (EU). The official cadres of the EU, while holding the rule of law as one of the primary tenets of the Union, seem to almost take for granted the existence of the rule of law in EU-member states. One can argue that such legal processes (and work on the rule of law) have perhaps been assigned to nations that are not quite yet fully “European,” supported by special EU funds for judicial reforms and regulations developed for candidate nations to “catch up with” member states. Yet, there is something amiss in this assumption in that it presumes that law ceases to require attention once an institutional threshold has been reached. This panel argues otherwise, and aims to open to discussion trials in Europe, focusing on both historical and contemporary legal cases. Ultimately, we aim to open to discussion such notions as political trials, show trials, and the various understandings of the notion of the rule of law.