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2. What Do We Know about Post-Conflict Transitional Justice from Academic Research: Key Insights for Practitioners
- Author:
- Charlotte Fiedler and Karina Mross
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- German Development Institute (DIE)
- Abstract:
- Societies that have experienced violent conflict face considerable challenges in building sustainable peace. One crucial question they need to address is how to deal with their violent past and atrocities that were committed – for example, whether perpetrators should be held accountable by judicial means, or whether the focus should be laid on truth telling and the compensation of victims. Transitional justice (TJ) offers a range of instruments that aim to help societies come to terms with their history of violent conflict. Systematic, empirical analyses of TJ instruments have been emerging over the last years. This Briefing Paper summarises the policy-relevant insights they provide regarding the main TJ instruments: trials; truth commissions; reparations for victims; and amnesties.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Transitional Justice, Political Science, Peace, and Justice
- Political Geography:
- Colombia, Germany, and Global Focus
3. Peace Processes: Negotiating reform of the security sector
- Author:
- Jasper Linke
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- This SSR Backgrounder explains how SSR features in peace processes and how it is linked to other aspects of security, justice and democratic governance. It highlights some of the main factors that influence the inclusion of SSR in peace processes, including the roles and strategies of mediators in shaping the negotiations. It also discusses what issues of SSR are typically not addressed in peace processes and some of the principal challenges of SSR negotiation and implementation. This SSR Backgrounder answers the following questions: Why is SSG central to peace processes? How can SSR feature in peace processes? What aspects of SSR are often neglected in peace processes? What other security arrangements in peace processes are relevant to SSR? What are the challenges of including SSR in peace processes?
- Topic:
- Security, Peace Studies, Governance, Reform, and Transitional Justice
- Political Geography:
- Geneva and Global Focus
4. Recognizing Natural Disasters as a Concern for Transitional Justice
- Author:
- Megan Bradley
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
- Abstract:
- Grave and systematic human rights violations in disaster situations should be recognized as a concern for the field of transitional justice. Transitional justice mechanisms such as truth commissions, memorials, restitution and compensation programs and trials may, in some cases, make significant contributions to redressing abuses in disaster situations. Victims' perspectives and priorities should guide discussions on the relevance and application of particular transitional justice mechanisms.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Natural Disasters, and Transitional Justice
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
5. On Solid Ground: Building Sustainable Peace and Development After Massive Human Rights Violations
- Author:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Abstract:
- This report of the Working Group on Transitional Justice and SDG16+ articulates the contributions of transitional justice to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16 on peace, justice, and inclusion, but also related goals on gender and inequality. The report contends that in contexts of serious and massive human rights violations, transitional justice provides a framework for addressing the needs of victims, helping to reduce the “justice gap,” and building sustainable peace and development.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Human Rights, Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals, Transitional Justice, and Victims
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
6. Guiding and Protecting Prosecutors: Comparative Overview of Policies Guiding Decisions to Prosecute
- Author:
- Howard Varney, Shenali De Silva, and Alexandra Raleigh
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Abstract:
- Prosecution guidelines provide benchmarks for decision making and act as a shield for prosecutors in the face of undue influence, pressure, or interference. Prosecutors pursuing sensitive cases, such as those involving mass atrocities, ought to do so by applying binding, objective, fair and publicly known criteria. This report presents a comparative overview of prosecution guidelines from around the world in "ordinary" times and in the context of post-conflict transitions.
- Topic:
- Law, Transitional Justice, Criminal Justice, and Justice
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. Transitional Justice in Relationship to Public Sphere and Civil Society: Theoretical Approaches
- Author:
- Edyta Pietrzak
- Publication Date:
- 01-2018
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Polish Political Science Yearbook
- Institution:
- Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
- Abstract:
- The article presents the entitled fields in the framework of their mutual influence. The notion of the public sphere is valuable for understanding the role that civil society plays in transitional justice processes. However transitional justice often reduces the idea of civil society to NGOs and ignores the social movements and civil engagement in the public realm that can be perceived as integral to the creation of new cases for understanding justice in transition. This fact results in the lack of perception of the civil society place in transitional justice processes. Thus the presented paper is based on hermeneutics, critical discourse analysis and dialogue between various theoretical approaches.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Transitional Justice, Public Policy, and NGOs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
8. Committing to Justice for Serious Human Rights Violations: Lessons from Hybrid Tribunals
- Author:
- Elena Naughton
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Abstract:
- Hybrid courts (or mixed tribunals combining international and national components) are no longer a novel approach to pursuing criminal accountability for egregious crimes of international concern (war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide). Created and implemented in diverse contexts around the globe for over a decade, they provide countries with an alternative to a fully domestic or international judicial process to hold perpetrators to account for mass atrocities. Over time, hybrid jurisdictions have proven themselves to be a viable model of justice in difficult circumstances. Although almost all have faced funding shortfalls at some time during their mandate and most have been met with strong opposition from those hostile to rigorous accountability efforts, each has investigated crimes and brought about justice where few if any other justice options existed. Their inherent strength rests, in part, on the flexibility they offer for responding to complex international crimes at the national level and on the opportunity they provide for promoting the exchange of information and expertise and for building capacity. There is no model hybrid tribunal. Rather, each hybrid court is established in response to the particular needs of the context and may be “internationalized” in varying ways and to different degrees. The degree of international involvement has almost always been negotiated to meet the needs of domestic authorities who were reluctant to cede sovereignty and to address the concerns of international actors who were uncertain about the adequacy of existing due process norms or wary of limitations in the state’s judicial, legal, and institutional capacity. As a result, a hybrid tribunal usually reflects the political compromises reached among the negotiating parties, most often the United Nations (UN) and the host state. The negotiation process itself can provide space for different factions to come together to build consensus around a common and sustainable approach to achieving accountability. They can also make accountability processes more responsive to the needs of victims and communities, including by giving victims the right to participate in the proceedings. Because of this process of give and take, hybrid tribunals offer the promise of independent justice within a mechanism that is capable of responding to complex international crimes at the domestic level.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Humanitarian Intervention, Transitional Justice, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
9. The Role of Victims in Criminal Proceedings
- Author:
- Howard Varney and Katarzyna Zdunczky
- Publication Date:
- 05-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Abstract:
- This briefing paper focuses on the role of victims of human rights violations in criminal proceedings. This paper will provide examples of recent developments in the advancement of victim participation in criminal proceedings in international criminal law and domestic jurisdictions.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, International Law, Transitional Justice, Domestic Policy, and Human Rights Violations
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
10. Forms of Justice: A Guide to Designing Reparations Application Forms and Registration Processes for Victims of Human Rights Violations
- Author:
- Ruben Carranza, Cristian Correa, and Elena Naughton
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Abstract:
- n a number of countries around the world, governments have created state-administered reparations programs for victims and communities that were most affected by massive human rights violations. The success of these programs, which often involve thousands of individuals, depends in part on the state’s ability to reach victims and record their demands for justice in an effective and meaningful way. Reparations programs may be administered by government agencies pursuant to a law or policy or a court judgment. In all cases, a process of identifying, verifying, and registering those entitled to reparations is necessary. This often begins with a reparations application form.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Transitional Justice, Humanitarian Crisis, Reparations, and Victims
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus