Transitional justice

Transitional justice comprises policies and processes societies use to address legacies of mass human rights abuses during transitions from conflict or authoritarian rule.

International criminal law: The body of law governing individual criminal responsibility for offenses such as genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It supplies legal standards for prosecuting grave abuses committed during conflict or repression.
Criminal prosecution: A legal process in which the state or an authorized body brings alleged offenders before a court. Trials assign individual responsibility and test evidence under legal standards.
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission: A commission established in post-apartheid South Africa to investigate human rights violations and consider amnesty applications. Its public hearings and conditional amnesty became a widely studied model.
Peacebuilding: Efforts to establish durable peace by addressing conflict drivers and strengthening institutions. It shares the aim of preventing renewed violence but encompasses a broader post-conflict agenda.
Selective justice: The uneven application of legal accountability, in which some alleged offenders are pursued while others are not. Limited prosecutions can undermine confidence that processes treat abuses impartially.
Truth commission: A temporary body that investigates patterns of past human rights violations and publishes findings. It can establish public records without relying solely on criminal trials.
Amnesty: A legal measure that prevents or ends prosecution for specified offenses or groups of people. Amnesties may facilitate political agreements but can conflict with duties to prosecute grave crimes.
Nuremberg trials: The post–Second World War military tribunals that prosecuted major Nazi leaders for international crimes. They helped establish precedents for individual accountability after mass atrocities.
Conflict resolution: Methods for ending disputes or managing their causes through negotiation, mediation, or other processes. Transitional justice may follow settlements, but its focus is specifically past abuses.
Universal jurisdiction: A legal principle allowing national courts to prosecute certain grave crimes regardless of where they occurred. It raises the possibility of accountability when transitional institutions cannot or will not prosecute.

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