Dignity in transition: the constitutional and operational potential and limits of human dignity seen from the lens of post-conflict societies

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the meaning and status of human dignity in a post-conflict context through, primarily albeit not exclusively, an examination of Kosovo's experience. The content and contours of the 2008 Kosovo Constitution were most naturally shaped by its past, formed by a state of conflict and further non-consensual bloody dissolution of the remainder of the former Yugoslav federation, superseded by an interim UN-led territorial administration. Its core values have emerged from a violent and totalitarian past. Unsurprisingly, it contains an explicit standalone human dignity-provision much like the German and South African constitutional models, however, unlike the other recently-adopted constitutions in comparable post-conflict or transitional settings – from Bosnia and Herzegovina to South Sudan – that rather opt for non-operative and mostly preambular references. What this means in practice and how is this related to the German and Strasbourg Court visions of dignity? Overall, what is the legal nature and jurisprudential significance of human dignity in societies in transition? The inquiry is placed within the framework of plural, evolving and mutually-engaged constitutional narratives, aiming to shed light on multiple manifestations of singular constitutional concepts.