The European Convention on Human Rights was drafted in the wake of World War II. The dark shadows of war have never fully receded from Europe however. Armed conflict has resurged time and again, from Northern Ireland to Cyprus and Turkey, and from the former Yugoslavia to the Caucasus. This book focuses on the margins of conflict: human rights aspects of transitions from peace to armed conflict and vice versa. Firstly, it seeks to explore what limits human rights put on European societies which are on the brink of armed conflict. Secondly, it surveys the consequences of human rights violations committed during the armed conflict by looking at the aftermath of war. In a stimulating way, experts in their field offer food for thought on a broad range of material and especially procedural issues such as the territorial scope of the Convention, states of emergency, freedom of expression and conflict escalation, obligations relating to enforced disappearances, interim measures, and pilot judgments. Taken together, they reflect both the potential and limitations of human rights in the run-up to conflicts and their aftermath.

Over the past decades, the practise of and research on transitional justice have expanded to preserving memory in the form of memorials. Memorials often employ a common architectural language and a set of political and ethical claims dictate the effect memory can or should have after large-scale violence: providing public sites of commemoration and mourning, putting past wrongs right, holding perpetrators accountable, vindicating the dignity of victims-survivors and contributing to reconciliation. Yet what are the general roles of memorials in transitions to justice? Who uses or opposes memorials, and to which ends? How – and what – do memorials communicate both explicitly and implicitly to the public? What is their architectural language? Questions such as these have long been pursued within the growing field of memory studies and provide valuable insights for researchers in transitional justice who mostly focus on the role of memorials as a mechanism to further some form of justice after the experience of violence. The goal of this volume is therefore to situate the analysis of transitional justice within memory studies’ broader critical understanding of the socio-political, aesthetic and ethical concerns underlying these memorial projects. It combines the two by providing a transnational selection of single case-studies that emphasise the global dimension of memory culture while couching it in current debates in the field of transitional justice. About the book ‘The collection has been well-selected to bring together a variety of perspectives on memorialisation practices and outcomes. [The] content makes a valuable and overdue contribution, bringing together two fields that have developed in parallel and with a lot to contribute to one another.’ Alison Atkinson-¬‐Phillips in Dialogues on Historical Justice and Memory (2014). ‘Memorials in Times of Transition represents an important and timely contribution to an emerging field of research […] This important volume is a significant step towards understanding the drive towards memorialization in diverse post-conflict contexts, the political impact of memorials and how memorialization intersects with other efforts towards coming to terms with difficult pasts.’ Sara Jones in Testimony (2015)

The Global Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions emerges at a time when there is a confluence of two trends. The first is a growing critique of truth commissions as being unresponsive to the socio-economic needs of transitional societies as part of growing criticism of transitional justice as a whole. The second is the increasing use, salience, professionalism and ambition of truth commissions. Thus, the book is published at a time when truth commissions are being both doubted and reified like never before. In this context, the book's purpose is to understand the impact and legacy of these institutions over the past fifty years. Bringing together many prominent voices on the topic, this book investigates what kind of impact and legacy (possibly 100) truth commissions have had on the societies in which they have taken place, and for future truth commissions the world over.

Winner of the 2018 Ciardi PrizeThis book offers an analysis of the existing normative framework regulating the right to reparation for child victims of armed conflict. The study questions whether the current framework is sufficiently developed to provide child victims with adequate, effective and prompt reparations; furthermore it presents and critically assesses the judicial and non-judicial mechanisms in place as well as the reparations awarded and implemented so far at the international and regional level.The research stems from the need to fill a gap in the current literature on transitional justice, in particular on the right to reparation. Even though reparations are well-established legal measures in several domestic judicial systems all over the world, in transitional periods reparations are not just a means to redress the harm suffered by the victims of wrongful acts, but they also seek to contribute to the reconstitution or the constitution of a new political community in the aftermath of an armed conflict. The overview of the relevant cases and materials provided in this book helps paving the way for reparations that are effective, adequate, prompt, and in line with the international standards set forth by the CRC and other instruments. This book ultimately strives to highlight the shortcomings of the existing mechanisms and it points out the main issues that need to be improved and/or overcome in pursuance of child victims' redress.From the foreword by Professor Theo van Boven (Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of Human Rights and Professor Emeritus of International Law at the University of Maastricht):"A leading motive of this study carried out with precision and persuasion is the design of transitional justice processes in law and practice. In many situations the plight of victims and for that matter the plight of child victims in armed conflicts happens to be ignored as inopportune and inconvenient. While relevant international legal framework and applicable mechanisms are developing as part of the process of an assumed humanization of international law major complexities and shortcomings still abound."'[The book's] principal merit is precisely to fill a gap in existing literature by addressing the legal challenges posed by violations of children's rights in armed conflicts and by the dearth of adequate reparations mechanisms against a very broad background and to dwell in depth on these challenges both on the theoretical and normative level and on the practical side. [It] represents a precious source of reference for lawyers and practitioners active in the field of children's rights and working for their social reintegration after the war. Francesca Capone not only provides a comprehensive analysis of the topic and proposes solutions to improve existing reparations mechanisms but she also succeeds in showing that one of the keys to moving forward is building on children's capability to be actively involved in transitional justice processes.'Micaela Frulli in ICLQ 2017.'[The] practice-oriented approach clearly adds to the book's appeal both for scholars and for those who are directly involved in the formulation and implementation of the standards concerned.'Christine Bakker in Italian Yearbook of International Law 2017, 683.

The backdrop to Bridging Divides in Transitional Justice is Cambodia's history of radical Communist revolution (1975-1979) under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, and the culture of impunity and silence imposed on the society by successive national governments for close to three decades. Dialogue on the suppressed past began in 2006 as key figures of the regime were brought before the in situ internationalised criminal court, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). The ECCC forms part of the panoply of international criminal courts of the post-Cold War era. The book engages with the dissonance between the expressivism of idealised international criminal trials and their communicative or discursive value within the societies most affected by their operation. An alternative view of the transitional trial is posited as the author elucidates the limits of expressivism and explores the communicative dynamics of ECCC trial procedure which have precipitated unprecedented local debate and reflection on the Khmer Rouge era.The book provides a timely and nuanced analysis of the ECCC's politically contentious and frequently criticised proceedings by examination of the trial dialogue in the Court's first two cases. From transcripts of the proceedings, exchanges between trial participants including witnesses, civil parties and the accused, are examined to show how, at times, the retributive proceedings assumed the character of restorative justice and encompassed significant dialogue on current social issues, such as the victim/perpetrator equation and the nature of ongoing post-traumatic stress disorder flowing from the events that took place under this violent regime The Court's capacity for representative and discursive proceedings is attributed to the substantive inclusion of the voice of the victim in proceedings, a modified inquisitorial procedure, narrative testimony and role-sharing between national and international court actors.

How do societies at the national and international level try to overcome historical injustices? What remedies did they develop to do justice to victims of large scale atrocities? And even more important: what have we learned from the implementation of these so-called instruments of transitional justice in practice? Lawyers, socials scientists and historians have published shelves full of books and articles on how to confront the past through international criminal tribunals, truth commissions, financial compensation schemes and other instruments of retributive/punitive and restorative justice. A serious problem continues to be that broad interdisciplinary accounts that include both categories of measures are still hardly available. With this volume a group of international experts in the field endeavors to fill this gap, and even more. By alternating historical overviews with critical assessments this volume does not only offer an extensive introduction to the world of transitional justice, but also food for thought concerning the effectiveness of the remedies it offers to face the past successfully. 'This synthetic volume is a comprehensive introduction to the various facets of the field of historical injustice of which transnational justice is its best known manifestation. This practical and thoughtful publication addresses critical aspects that challenge the goal of redressing the past as these are presented in scholarship, advocacy and policy. The book delves into questions from justice to ethics and to education and would be useful for students as well as policy makers.' Elazar Barkan, Columbia University'This is a superb reference work on Transitional Justice, covering nearly all of the general questions regarding the various mechanisms in its toolbox, and the combinations thereof, and including case studies and pending cases. It provides expert analyses of transitional justice in post-conflict, post-authoritarian, and democratic states, presenting problems and solutions. The subjects broadly range from apologies to corporate complicity, to America's self-proclaimed exceptionalism when it comes to confronting onerous chapters of its past. In recent years, a number of problematic cases have emerged that will require us to re-think the transitional justice toolbox - this volume offers a solid basis from which to depart'Nanci Adler, University of Amsterdam.

In a political climate that holds limited promise for addressing the issue of child recruitment, Child Soldiers and Transitional Justice: Protecting the Rights of Children Involved in Armed Conflicts challenges the trend towards a narrow focus on recruitment and use of the child, and seeks to contribute to more effective prevention and responses that offer the child a chance of recovery, reconciliation and reintegration. This book adapts existing theoretical frameworks of transitional justice in order to analyse child recruitment, with a view to demonstrating how a society can address the issue in a holistic way. It systematises relevant knowledge across a wide range of legal fields to allow for greater understanding of the law and principles, and a more informed basis for practical engagement with transitional justice mechanisms.Delving deep into the travaux préparatoires of each of the fundamental legal instruments, the author analyses their evolution, spanning humanitarian law, human rights law, criminal law, and other aspects of public law, including peace agreements and action plans developed with armed groups and forces. He provides a particular focus on and in-depth analysis of the Lubanga case, and its implications for other components of transitional justice. The findings highlight arguments for placing child recruitment firmly on the transitional justice agenda. By considering child recruitment against a transitional justice framework, the book allows a detailed understanding of the distinct but complementary components - rule of law, criminal justice, historical justice, reparatory justice, institutional justice, and participatory justice - and reveals the untapped potential in interactions between different areas of transitional justice.About the authorBo Viktor Nylund is a protection and legal practitioner who has focused on state and non-state actor responsibility and accountability throughout his career. Bo Viktor has Masters degrees in law and political science from Columbia University Law School and Abo Akademi University and a PhD in international law from the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies. He has served UNHCR, UNICEF and OHCHR and is currently UNICEF's Representative in Burundi.

What lessons can we learn from history, and more importantly: how? This question is as commonplace as it is essential. Efficient transitional justice policy evaluation requires, inter alia, an historical dimension. What policy has or has not worked in the past is an obvious key question. Nevertheless, history as a profession remains somewhat absent in the multi-disciplinary field of transitional justice. The idea that we should learn lessons from history continues to create unease among most professional historians. In his critical introduction, the editor investigates the framework of this unease. At the core of this book are nine national European case studies (post 1945, the 1970s dictatorships, post 1989) which implement the true scholarly advantage of historical research for the field of transitional justice: the broad temporal space. All nine case studies tackle the longer-term impact of their country's transitional justice policies. Two comparative conclusions, amongst others by the internationally renowned transitional justice specialist Luc Huyse, complete this collection. This volume is a major contribution in the search for synergies between the agenda of historical research and the rapidly developing field of transitional justice.'The most sophisticated study to date of transitional justice. Responding to a thoughtful and well-elaborated conceptual framework, contributors explore transitional justice in nine European countries in the aftermath of civil and interstate wars. The collective findings document the variety of responses, some of the reasons for them, their consequences for justice, healing and democratic reconstruction and the important role played by official and collective memories. This is a must read for academics and policymakers alike.' Richard Ned Lebow, Professor of International Political Theory in the War Studies Department of King's College London and the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor (Emeritus) of Government at Dartmouth College'Surprisingly, we needed the detour of studying faraway tyrannies and wars to rethink in terms of transitional justice the legacy of painful pasts and the persistence of traumatic memories in postwar Europe. This impressive book offers a tableau of incisive country studies inspired by this new approach. Firmly embedded in comparative analysis and theoretical reflection, it should be in the hand luggage of the non-existent but dearly needed Special Rapporteur on Transitional Justice of the Council of Europe.' Antoon De Baets, author of Responsible History, University of Groningen

This volume considers the important and timely question of criminal justice as a method of addressing state violence committed by non-democratic regimes. The book's main objectives concern a fresh, contemporary, and critical analysis of transitional criminal justice as a concept and its related measures, beginning with the initiatives that have been put in place with the fall of the Communist regimes in Europe in 1989.The project argues for rethinking and revisiting filters that scholars use to interpret main issues of transitional criminal justice, such as: the relationship between judicial accountability, democratisation and politics in transitional societies; the role of successor trials in rewriting history; the interaction between domestic and international actors and specific initiatives in shaping transitional justice; and the paradox of time in enhancing accountability for human rights violations. In order to accomplish this, the volume considers cases of domestic accountability in the post-1989 era, from different geographical areas, such as Europe, Asia and Africa, in relation to key events from various periods of time. In this way the approach, which investigates space and time-lines in key examples, also takes into account a longitudinal study of transitional criminal justice itself. About the book'Transitional justice nowadays is an industry which produces hundreds of texts each year and it is difficult to turn our attention to an intellectual product. This book is well-balanced and will find recognition in readers and students of transitional justice, as well as researchers on social transformation. It is a collection in the best tradition of socio-legal research. The book is recommended for two reasons: its serious treatment of criminal justice as a part of transitional justice, and its approach, which locates the problem of transitional justice in post-communist Europe in a broader, comparative context.' Prof. Dr. Adam Czarnota, Scientific Director of the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, O�ati, Spain'By carefully considering how criminal justice relates to democratization, collective memory, internationalist concerns, and the passage of time since violations occurred, this volume contributes importantly to the evolving transitional justice literature. The questions it raises are timely and theoretically grounded, and the choice of cases diverse and illuminating. Its authors richly contextualize their examinations, complementing recent broad comparative studies that explore large numbers of cases with little detail. This in-depth study critically advances our understanding of the challenges of justice on the fraught terrain of transitioning societies.' Nadya Nedelsky, Associate Professor and Chair, International Studies, Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN.'A collection of provocative, thoughtful and superbly documented contributions to our understanding of the dilemmas of transitional justice in post-dictatorial societies. The authors argue that democratic communities cannot function properly if they do not address past crimes and abuses. Genuine reconciliation cannot take place if memory and justice are ignored and denied. With its insightful comparative perspective, this book is highly recommended to all those who care about the relationship between human rights and democracy.' Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland (College Park)