Scholarly Review:
Transitional Justice: A New Discipline in Human Rights
Last modified: 18 January 2010Kora Andrieu
January 2010
Cite this item
Kora Andrieu, Transitional Justice: A New Discipline in Human Rights, Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence, [online], published on 18 January 2010, accessed 5 February 2012, URL : http://www.massviolence.org/Transitional-Justice-A-New-Discipline-in-Human-Rights, ISSN 1961-9898
- 1. Introduction: The Definition and Historical Evolution of Transitional (...), page 1
- 2. Retributive Justice: From International Trials to Local Justice, page 4
- 3. Restorative Justice: Truth and Forgiveness, page 9
- 4. Social Justice, page 14
- 5. Conclusion: The Way Forward, page 19
- 6. Bibliography, page 24
«The past is not dead.
It’s not even past.»
William Faulkner
1. Introduction: The Definition and Historical Evolution of Transitional Justice
The question of how best to deal with a divisive past of mass violence is not a new one. What Ernest Renan called «historical amnesia» might be necessary for the building of a nation, but recent developments in human rights have shown a turn towards collective remembrance. Memory-work is now considered a useful tool of conflict resolution throughout the world, as there is a growing belief that unaddressed past legacies actually fuel conflicts. The theories and research programs that explain, justify, compare, and contest specific practices of moral and social repair, and the political and social movements dealing with the past, including practices such as Truth Commissions, trials, administrative reorganization, nation building, commemoration and reparation, is what we now call «transitional justice» (Mendez, 1997; Crocker, 1999; Teitel, 2003; Elster, 2004; Roht Arriaza, 2006; Eisikovitz, 2009).
Roughly, the function of transitional justice (hereafter, TJ) is to exercise justice and provide some form of repair in the wake of horrifying violence (Walker, 2006b: 12). TJ is an instrument of broad social transformation, and rests on the assumption that societies need to confront past abuses in order to come to terms with their past, and move on. The notion of TJ as a separate field of research and action first appeared during the «third wave» of democratization in Latin America and in Eastern Europe (Huntington, 1993), referring specifically to the transition from a dictatorial or authoritarian regime towards a liberal market democracy. In 1992, the «Charter 77 Foundation» gathered in Salzburg with leaders from South America, Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, to define the best way of organizing the transition from a dictatorial to a democratic regime (Kritz, 1995). The collapse of communism and the end of bipolarity caused the proliferation of political democratization and liberalization, consequently «transition» became a central word in both human rights and international relations. For Pierre Hazan, this moment is analogous to the appearance of purgatory in Christianity: transition is the time of confession, repentance, and judgment, animated by the constant hope of possible salvation (Hazan, 2007). Ruty Teitel, in one of the first extensive books on the subject, defines TJ as «a concept of justice, intervening in a period of political change, characterized by a juridical answer to the wrongs of past repressive regimes» (Teitel, 2003: 69). According to the International Centre for Transitional Justice, a New York-based research group which works with transitional regimes,
«Transitional Justice is a response to systematic or widespread violations of human rights. It seeks recognition for the victims and to promote possibilities for peace, reconciliation and democracy. Transitional Justice is not a special kind of justice but justice adapted to societies transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuse. In some case, these transformations happen suddenly, in others they may take place over decades» (ICTJ, 2008).
