Transitional Justice in Peace Operations: Shaping the Twilight Zone in Somalia and East Timor

Abstract

Much has been written about transitional justice in the circumstances of organised states progressing towards democracy. Another category of transitional justice demanding equal study and resolution has, however, emerged. That is the interim administration of justice in the vacuum of the disrupted state following traumatic internal conflict, usually involving war crimes and crimes against humanity. Two things are characteristic of this circumstance: first, the requirement for a deployed international military force to do ‘something’ about fundamental law and order while waiting for the civil administrative ‘cavalry’ to arrive; second, the fact that a civil administrative element will eventually have to take over from the military and will also be required to do ‘something’ about the immediate law and order problem but in a manner that leads into the long term reconstruction and ‘end state’ process. In the future, this environment may also include the operation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where many issues of jurisdiction, investigation, prosecution and the impact on long term rehabilitation will need to be managed.