Model Of Transitional Justice Research Articles

Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz: un modelo de justicia transicional en Colombia

Este texto pretende explicar el funcionamiento de la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz como un modelo de justicia transicional cuyo eje central son los derechos de las víctimas. Para ello se explican los procesos que se llevan a cabo al interior de la Jurisdicción que son ejemplificados a través de casos específicos que muestran los retos que tiene este modeli de Justicia Transicional.

Constitutional courts in transitions to democracy: Limits, critiques and possibilities in Brazil and Argentina

After World War II, a court-centered model of democratization and transitional justice has developed and consolidated. Trough adjudication, courts could promote the consolidation of liberal democratic governance, protecting fundamental rights, limiting state power and promoting stability and predictability in the interpretation of the law, to attract investments. However, decades after the start of the third wave of democratization, analyses of the jurisprudence of these courts reveal a less convincing performance of its democratizing role. We ask whether the courts have effectively advanced the consolidation of liberal democracy, by analyzing its two fronts: the protection of fundamental rights and the consolidation of liberal economic policies. Based on case studies of key decisions made by the constitutional courts in Brazil and Argentina, of a qualitative nature, we argue that the performance of the courts does not match the high expectations of the model of court-centric democratization.

Justicia transicional y cuestiones sociales y económicas: un análisis en tiempos de anormalidad

El modelo paradigmático de Justicia Transicional se caracteriza por la protección de derechos civiles y políticos y el predominio de la justicia retributiva. La exportación de este modelo a sociedades en posconflicto ha develado las conexiones entre cuestiones sociales y económicas, tales como, pobreza, corrupción y desigualdades, y el logro de una transición efectiva a la democracia. Este artículo analiza la relación entre dichas cuestiones sociales y económicas y la Justicia Transicional a la luz de la teoría del discurso y de las categorías de discurso anormal y normal, utilizadas por Nancy Fraser en el análisis de la teoría de la justicia.

El estado como garante del derecho de las victimas a la verdad en Colombia

The victim’s right to the truth has had a wide recognition in the international framework of human rights, not just by jurisprudential via but also doctrinal. Inquire in the State’s rol as a guarantor of the right to the truth of the Colombian conflict victims during the peace process, takes validity for of the compliments of the rules that integrate the constitutional side and for the politic will and legislative state of establishing the model of transitional justice.

«La paz perfecta», una mirada a la justicia transicional frente al Derecho Internacional

Transitional justice in the countries of Latin America has a long history, both in its doctrine as in its legislation, but implementation has brought the breach of international law, in concrete international law of human rights and international humanitarian law. This document shows the structure of the current model of transitional justice in Colombia and what is to be implemented with Havana agreements, and offers a reflection about limits of legislative autonomy of the states against the design and development of its own transitional justice models.

Transitional justice in Colombia: unrealized potential

The article analyzes the theoretical and practical problems that arise during the construction of the Colombian model of transitional justice. The latter is viewed as a combination of judicial and quasi-judicial means, with the help of which it becomes possible to achieve a peaceful settlement after the end of the civil war of 1964–2016. Particular attention is paid to the socio-political context and mass sentiments prevailing in Colombian society regarding the legitimacy of transferring the Anglo-American construction of Transitional Justice to Latin America. The so-called “Integrated System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition”, which is a consolidated version of the four main elements of transitional justice: criminal prosecution, truth seeking, reparations to the innocent victims and “deal with the past”, is being studied in detail. In particular, the author dwells on the issue of amnesties for participants in an armed conflict, the activities of the “truth commission” and compensation payments to victims of mass violence. In addition, the article examines the activities of the Colombian Special Jurisdiction for Peace, the relevant statistical data are provided. The “Santrich case” is mentioned as a marker of negative trends that continue to grow in the activities of a new jurisdiction. The conclusion is that the legal means of resolving the conflict are secondary, albeit of absolute importance, in comparison with political agreements, to which all participants of the process of national reconciliation sometimes are not ready organizationally and psychologically.

Transitional justice in postwar Austria

AbstractAustria's post-World War II transition from two consecutive, abusive regimes (the Austro-fascist and the Nazi regime) to a functioning democracy has not yet been thoroughly assessed through the lens of transitional justice. An evaluation of what could now be dubbed transitional-justice measures shows that Austria was reluctant in accepting its collective responsibility vis-à-vis the victims of World War II. Another defining factor of Austria's transition is that it never encouraged the surviving victims of the Nazi regime to return. An appraisal of Austria's transition in light of the two final ends of transitional justice, namely democracy and reconciliation, culminates in two conclusions: first, Austria attained the goal of democracy but failed with reconciliation; second, the current model of transitional justice is ill-equipped to assess the non-linear course of long-past transitions.

Exploring the link between mine action and transitional justice in Cambodia

ABSTRACTThis paper examines mine action in Cambodia and its implications for common conceptions of civil society and transitional justice. The complexities of past Cambodian conflicts and the strained state-civil society relationship at present have led to a complicated legacy of landmines. The collective harm Cambodian people have experienced also blurs the line between victimhood and perpetration of crime, further complicating transitional justice in the Cambodian context. Exploring the link between mine action and transitional justice in Cambodia reveals that civil society organisations involved in mine action are not separate from the state contrary to the common conceptualisation of civil society as autonomous. It also demonstrates that mine action is responding to more complex elements of Cambodian conflicts than the retributive model of transitional justice. The participatory approaches to mine action highlight local agency and active involvement, which are crucial in creating a civil society that encourages an empowered citizenry.

Plural justice: Indonesian norm entrepreneurs and models of justice

ABSTRACTSettling past human rights abuses is an ongoing process in Indonesia. In addition to the existing human rights court system, the government has recently put forward new proposals for reconciliation and harmony. These proposals all build on earlier models of justice imported by Indonesian human rights activists in the short period following Suharto’s fall. In this article, I discuss the indispensable role played by Indonesian activists in promoting norms, models and repertoires of collective action related to transitional justice. The campaigns eventually led to successful legislation, although ‘decoupling’ between norms and practices has since been observed. While Indonesian activists used direct links with international experts and agencies, they also relied on indirect channels of diffusion such as reading books, which were as effective as direct channels. The diversity of channels through which ideas were disseminated further encouraged the plurality of transitional justice models, leading to contestation over desirable mechanisms between like-minded human rights groups. The major models that I discuss in this article are enforced disappearances and the Argentine model, an international criminal justice model, and a truth and reconciliation commission with amnesty, introduced by Indonesian human rights groups such as Kontras and Elsam.

State actions in the post-conflict society

The return of the state to sociological discourse can be based on the study of the role of state measures in societies that overcome the consequences of violence. The purpose of the article – is to outline the problems and some ways of overcoming them facing the state in the post-conflict reconstruction of society and can be successfully addressed by state authorities with varying degrees of success.Given that the state in a post-conflict society, as a rule, has a low level of public confidence and limited resources to resolve the conflict, the practice of peacekeeping operations and other organizational arrangements for building peace is widespread.In addition to the organizational component, the assistance of the Western world is in promoting and sometimes imposing in the transitional societies the legal norms and political institutions of the "old world", which often complicated the peace process and did not take into account the local context of peace-building. In addition, the speed at which international donors wanted to obtain a result from international intervention could contradict the long-term process of psychosocial and economic recovery of victims of the conflict.Modern theories of "transitional justice" try to overcome the contradiction between the limited support of international actors on the one hand and the fragility of the state and the weakness of civil society on the other.The researchers are proposing a model where the state interacts with civil society on the path to peace in the long run and reconciliation.A decentralized transitional justice model emerged in Northern Ireland, where local conciliation initia- tives combined community efforts and government and non-governmental interventions. Particular emphasis on overcoming the effects of violence is on reparations. However, there is no unambiguous universal form of payment to victims of the conflict to meet all economic needs. Reparations can take different forms – from money to symbolic ones. In addition, the decision to pay reparations is implemented by the state on the basis of agreements at the level of institutes of transitional justice, first of all, the truth-establishing commissions.In order to overcome the consequences of violence and the post-conflict reconstruction of a society, the state must take into account the whole range of social problems – political, socio-psychological, and economic. The solution to political problems is through the provision of broad political rights and ensuring the inclusiveness of social groups in society. Socio-psychological problems are solved in particular through the transformation of the group identity of the oppositional conflicts of social groups in the context of the exchange of social experience. Economic issues of post-conflict reconstruction concern the development of an effective reparation system at the individual, group and national levels.

Sobre la implementación de la Justicia Especial para la Paz en Colombia

Objetivo: este artículo es una invitación a reflexionar sobre las estratagemas que pretenden limitar o anular el accionar de la Justicia Especial para la Paz (jep). Asimismo, sobre las consecuencias nefastas de estas prácticas no solo para la sociedad, sino, incluso, para quienes las promueven.
 Metodología: con el ánimo de reflexionar sobre estas posturas es importante considerar los diferentes modelos de justicia transicional.
 Resultados: en un conflicto interno como el colombiano, el cual inundó de violencia a todo un país por más de 50 años, son muchos los actores que intervienen. Entre estos, algunos han sido reconocidos plenamente, mientras otros aún permanecen en el anonimato. Por una parte, dentro del primer conjunto, existen muchos exmilitantes (tanto de las Fuerzas Militares estatales como de la insurgencia y de grupos paramilitares) interesados en resolver su situación jurídica por medio del Tribunal de Justicia Especial para la Paz (jep). Por otra, quienes no han sido procesados, condenados o siquiera expuestos públicamente como responsables de actos de violencia en el marco del conflicto, despliegan toda una serie de estrategias con el fin de evitar que el proceso de transición sea efectivo.
 Conclusiones: la ceguera política, en un contubernio perverso con la ignorancia sobre los principios y modelos explicativos que orientan la justicia transicional, nubla toda racionalidad que permita el tránsito efectivo de una sociedad con un conflicto interno a una con una paz estable y duradera.

Traditional Justice Methods and Their Possible Impact on Transitional Justice Models in South Sudan

This paper discusses the legal framework of the traditional justice methods in several African countries, with a focus on South Sudan; the objective of customary law, the role of traditional courts or the forum of elders, and the methods of settlement of disputes. These methods of settlement of disputes are by-products of the practices, customs and traditions of the people that were devised as ways of maintaining peace and tranquillity, and thereby uphold the rule of law.

Evolución jurídica del contenido del deber de justicia en contextos transicionales en Colombia

The Colombian State, as an international subject of law, is responsible for ensuring the access to justice through its duty to investigate, judge and sanction everyone responsible of actions considered violations of Human Rights and of the International Humanitarian Law. In Colombia, the development of transitional models and measures intended to put an end to the armed conflict have involved different moments and interpretations around the way of balancing the aspiration of peace and the total satisfaction of justice; ranging from maximalist positions in favor of the duty of assuring full justice, to those approaches that prefer the weighting and integration of principles and values. The development of the current System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-repetition (SIVJRNR, in Spanish), within the frame of the Peace Agreement with the FARC guerrilla group, provides an opportunity to consolidate and equilibrate positions with the aim of implementing a truly comprehensive model of transitional justice in our country.

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND THE CHALLENGING PURSUIT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

This article argues that the shortcomings of the currently dominant transitional justice model, which largely ignores considerations of social justice, can be explained by several structural factors within the international legal system. It considers the relatively recent establishment of transitional justice institutions and argues that despite different forms – international criminal tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions, peoples’ tribunals – these institutions are motivated by similar rationales and have the same underlying objectives. These parallels, enhanced by the both explicit and implicit normative influences that the respective institutions have on each other, and the overly linear notion of time embedded in international law have given rise to a problematic model of transnational transitional justice. Among others, this model hinders the pursuit of social justice beyond a narrow focus on individual human rights and individualized responsibilities for specific crimes. The article calls for a deliberate turn away from prefabricated institutional responses as well as for a much-needed reconceptualization of the prevailing model of justice within international legal discourses in order to address structural inequalities and forms of injustice that are often part of the root causes of armed conflicts.

Transitional Justice Models and Analytic Philosophy: Towards Theory

As an interdisciplinary field of scholarship, transitional justice is still in its pre-theoretical stage, focusing mainly on the case and comparative studies, supported by general considerations concerning justice in the times of transition. To entrench the field as a distinct area of studies, a theory of transitional justice needs to be formulated. The article explores the possibility of making a step towards such a theoretical basis with the use of the tools of analytical philosophy, methodology and legal theory. First, drawing on Leszek Nowak’s procedure of idealisation, three basic models of responses to a painful past are formulated. Then, distinct transitional justice values are attributed to each of the models. Finally, with the use of Jerzy Kmita’s concept of humanistic interpretation, the article seeks to conceptualize the way in which these values – among other factors, such as the need to uphold the rule of law or to preserve the stability of a democratic system – influence the choice of a model of transitional justice response. Thus, the aim of the presented models – which I described in more detail elsewhere (Krotoszyński 2017) – is to provide a sound theoretical basis for some of the fundamental claims formulated in the field of transitional justice.

Indigenous Mechanisms of Transitional Justice as Complementary Instruments to State Justice Systems: Cases of mato oput in Uganda, bashingantahe Councils in Burundi and Navajos’ Custom of naat’aani

Transitional justice is resorted to within the framework of transition from armed conflict to peace and from authoritarian regimes to the democratic ones. To reach the aims of transitional justice and to better integrate the needs and perspectives of the indigenous peoples that very often are victims of serious human rights violations in the transitional context, as well as the colonisation context, indigenous instruments of justice may be utilised. As such they may be treated as complementary to other transitional justice mechanisms. The article aims to find a new perspective on the complementary role of the indigenous justice and the State justice systems within the framework of transitional justice as well as to take into account the indigenous peoples’ needs and customs. The overall aim of the paper is to answer the question whether it is desirable for such indigenous justice instruments to complement the State justice systems through a better integration of the needs and customs of indigenous peoples. In the concluding remarks, a model of complementarity model of transitional justice that includes indigenous instruments will be proposed.

Why establishing a Credible and Legitimate Transitional Justice Model in conjunction with Democratic Reforms is Necessary for Long-term Peace and Stability in Uganda

Uganda is a specific focus of international criminal justice at present because of issues relating the International Criminal Court, and specifically the trial of the Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen, which began in late 2016. In this context, this article reviews domestic developments in Uganda over the past few years to determine what Uganda ought to do about the past, and why the time is right for democratic reforms and transitional justice to occur in the country. It examines the processes Uganda has set up recently to determine when and how its past ought to be confronted, including a government inter-ministerial working group that has been dealing with transitional justice matters. The article considers why dealing with the past in Uganda, combined with democratic transformation, is a necessity, and why Uganda, at least in theory, has been embarking on a process to deal with the past. It examines the atrocities that have occurred in Uganda to examine why dealing with the past is essential to obtaining peace and stability. The article briefly examines Uganda’s two previous truth commissions to determine what should be avoided in a future process and what procedural and substantive steps could be taken to ensure a viable and successful transitional justice model combined with democratic reforms.

Applied Anthropology in Transitional Justice

The dissonance between local and global transitional justice imperatives has been the source of interdisciplinary debate with scholars highlighting the tensions between theory and practice. While researchers such as Sally Merry have discussed the human rights practitioner as a translator between global international human rights norms and local cultural understandings, little has been said regarding the potential for anthropologists to translate transitional justice between the state and survivors. This article demonstrates the need for applied anthropology in transitional justice models, illustrated with data drawn from the Canadian national transitional justice context. In this project, ethnographic data gathered from 2011–2014 is used to analyze the independent assessment process, or monetary reparations process. Using this example, I demonstrate a need for anthropological “translators” who can assess need, evaluate risk, and utilize a participatory action approach in transitional justice development.

Cotidianidades desarmadas, el reto invisible de las transiciones territoriales: la ventana abierta de la Zonas Veredales Transitorias de Normalización en el proceso de paz con las FARC-EP

El modelo de justicia transicional discutido en La Habana y su marcado énfasis judicial, relegó la consideración de procesos locales de transición social y comunitaria. Con ello los acuerdos omitieron la complejidad que ha tenido la dimensión territorial de la guerra y las lógicas cotidianas a que esta ha dado lugar que —más allá de las hostilidades y sus impactos humanitarios— se expresan en distintas prácticas y relaciones sociales construidas entre insurgencia, estado y comunidades campesinas. La instalación de las Zonas Veredales Transitorias de Normalización como instancia y lugar para concretar el fin del conflicto armado ha supuesto una muestra de la manera como se irán transformando las cotidianidades construidas en el marco de la guerra. Las Zonas Veredales suponen, pues, la primera experiencia en la forma como han de ser superadas las cotidianidades armadas, una tarea que en este artículo defino como “retos invisibles” (en el sentido que no aparecen en contempladas en los acuerdos) que para las comunidades, estado e insurgencia suponen la cuota inicial de la construcción de una paz estable y duradera en los territorios. En este artículo presento un panorama etnográfico de los aún incipientes procesos de transformación de las cotidianidades armadas a las desarmadas en las distintas ZVTN.

Injustice through Transitional Justice? Subversion Strategies in Burundi’s Peace Process and Postconflict Developments

Embedded in Burundi’s peace process, the creation of judicial and nonjudicial transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms promised truth, reconciliation and justice to the victims of crimes committed during conflict. Yet, an analysis of the dynamics of the localization of TJ reveals multiple subversion techniques mobilized by national and international actors, leading to counterproductive outcomes. This article explores these dynamics and formulates two arguments. First, these subversion techniques are the consequence of a double phenomenon. On the one hand, the conjunction of the normalization of TJ in the postconflict toolbox and the nature of the internationalization of Burundi’s peace process has made the pursuit of TJ inevitable. On the other, the incompatibilities between TJ and divergent priorities, interests and agendas have made its realization equally impossible. Secondly, this subversion has led to a triple form of (transitional) injustice: a denial of justice through ‘temporary immunities’; an absence of justice through a negotiation process more oriented towards noninception than the creation of TJ mechanisms; and a risk of biased justice through the modalities and timing of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Conclusions of this article call for a greater questioning of the TJ model promoted and deeper research into the localization dynamics, especially in post peace-settlement contexts.