Introduction to TJ

Question 1

what premise is TJ based on?

Answer 1

premise that not addressing past atrocities will fuel future conflicts

Question 2

TJ definition by UN

Answer 2

range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempts to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past abuses to ensure accountability, justice and achieve reconciliation

Question 3

4 key groups of actors in TJ

Answer 3

1) Intl community (UN, EU, AFrican Union)
2) National stakeholders (civil society, justice sector, traditional leaders, women, youth, minorities, IDPs, refugees)
3) International and regional HR bodies
4) Experts (not just lawyers, increasingly interdisciplinary approach to TJ)

Question 4

3 bodies of law within which TJ operates

Answer 4

1) IHRL
2) IHL
3) ICL

Question 5

IHRL concerns

Answer 5

obligations of states (and arguably non-state actors) to prevent, protect and fulfil HRs

Question 6

IHRL key instruments (universal and regional)

Answer 6

ICCPR, CEDAW, CRC, ECHR

Question 7

IHRL Key universal and regional HR bodies

Answer 7

Human Rights Committee; Human Rights Council; ECtHR; ACtHR

Question 8

IHL applicable in

Answer 8

international and non-international armed conflict –> regulates the conduct of hostilities and protects victims of war

Question 9

IHL imposes what sort of obligations to those in conflict

Answer 9

equal obligations to all parties to conflict (States and armed groups)

Question 10

IHL laws

Answer 10

4 Geneva Conventions of 1949 + their Additional Protocols, customary IHL

Question 11

ICL imposes

Answer 11

criminal responsibility of individuals for serious violations of HRL or IHL

Question 12

What are the different justice aims that TJ tools can encompass?

Answer 12

1) retributive
2) restorative
3) reparative
4) social and transformative

Question 13

Retributive justice

Answer 13

• prosecutions –> individual accountability thru crim trial and punishment
• individualises guilt + aims to deter potential violators
• encourages ROL
  *

Question 14

Restorative justice

Answer 14

aims on repairing harm suffered by individual (not punishment)
- active involvement of victims/offenders/community

Question 15

Criticism of restorative justice

Answer 15

not a real alt to crim punishment where serious + may pressure victims to pursue national reconciliation

Question 16

Reparative Justice

Answer 16

victim centred, empowerment of victims

Question 17

forms of reparative justice

Answer 17

restitution, compensation, satisfaction, rehab, guarantees of non-repetition

Question 18

Social and Transformative Justice

Answer 18

social: ESC rights, addressing root causes of inequalities, corruption, structural violence
Tranformative: more radical, statebased processes to community based responses - focus on economic development

Question 19

Critique of social and transformative justice

Answer 19

little evidence of effectiveness, very broad scope

Question 20

TJ processes should be:

Answer 20

• Context-specific
• Nationally-owned
• Inclusive
• Victim-centered
• Gender-sensitive
• Participative and empowering
• Transformative for the whole society

Question 21

how does retributive justice pursue individual accountability?

Answer 21

criminal trial and punishment

Question 22

elements of retributive justice

Answer 22

• Pursues individual accountability, through criminal trial and punishment
• Based on society’s condemnation of the act and of the perpetrator
• Concerns the individualization of guilt
• Aims to pursue deterrence of potential violators of the law for fear of punishment

Question 23

criticism of retributive justice

Answer 23

• not appropriate for dealing with collective violence, selective prosecutions
• Limited role of victims, and limited scope of offences (primarily crimes against bodily integrity)