The Impact of Transitional Justice

The Impact of Transitional Justice

Transitional justice (TJ) is a set of policy mechanisms aimed at actively promoting human rights protections. It is broadly defined as the judicial and non-judicial processes designed to reckon with past human rights violations following periods of political turmoil, state repression, or armed conflict. This project analyses the success of TJ in achieving goals of improving democracy and human rights and ending conflict. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation (US) and the Arts & Humanities Research Council (UK) Collaboration with the University of Minnesota (Kathryn Sikkink).

Presentations to government agencies (Brazilian Ministry of Justice & planning committee for the Truth Commission, Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Colombian Supreme Court, Colombian Special Prosecutors on the Justice and Peace Law, Colombian Congressional Committee on Peace, Homeland Security), international governmental organizations (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, UN Mediation group), international non- governmental Research organizations (International Centre for Transitional Justice, Amnesty International, Robert Kennedy Human Rights Center). The new direction for this project is to assess the success of TJ’s use in on-going conflict and in accountability efforts for non-state actors. PI: Leigh Payne