Ottoman Justice Thought in Tanzimat Period and Transitional Justice: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

One of the debates about contemporary political philosophy is related to historical perspective upon the Transitional Justice. This debate focuses on the probability of historical perspective will work in the Transitional Justice practices. In addition to this, in the evaluations concerning Transitional Justice, recently happened events and implemented reforms are taken into account and historical examples are not frequently referred. In the present work, by starting from this thesis, we will scrutinize the reforms made in American Reconstruction and Ottoman Tanzimat eras in terms of transitional justice. By taking both eras into consideration as two cases, we sought to question the possibility of historical perspective in the work. The work is limited to the legal arrangements and structural reforms in the considered eras. In the conclusion of the work, it is seen that the legal and structural reforms in both eras, which had the characteristics of transitional period, failed. In spite of this, it is probable to say that the taken steps related to justice formed the basis of many constitutional and legal reforms in the future. Additionally, these two cases demonstrate the significance of historical perspective in the studies of transitional justice.