Short Course: Transitional Justice - Timing and Tools

Course Details

This is an inaugural course on transitional justice at BIICL. It will approach the traditional "pillars" of transitional justice - prosecutions, truth-telling, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition - in a holistic and context-nuanced manner. The course will investigate the timing, guiding principles and instruments that are relevant for all mentioned transitional justice dimensions and make them a harmonised whole, for a particular context, in a particular time.

Throughout five sessions, participants will expand their understanding of a "transition" and instances, when certain transitional justice steps can and should be implemented while an armed conflict or atrocity situation is still ongoing. The course will discuss survivor involvement in the design and implementation of transitional justice measures, especially reparations. The sessions will analyse how some structural steps such as vetting of the judiciary and investigations of corporate implication in human rights violations are key for nuanced reckoning and redress. Participants will also explore how traditional justice initiatives could make responses to atrocities more sustainable and embraced by affected societies. All sessions will emphasise the indispensability of the underlying gender-competence and the guiding ethos of prevention for all transitional justice measures.

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand the spectrum of contexts, in which transitional justice initiatives can be launched;
• Realise the roles of various actors involved in designing and implementing transitional justice measures;
• Distinguish various types of reparations for atrocity survivors and the role of urgent interim reparations for them;
• Understand corporate culpability in human rights violations and the way it can be addressed in transitional contexts;
• Gain awareness of different cultural contexts and how they can support sustainable in- and post-conflict transformations;
• Realise the crucial role of women and minority groups in advancing transitional justice, including for the core purpose of preventing potential atrocity situations.
  

  
Course topics and trainers:

1. Transitional justice: framework, timing and varied accountability lenses
Dr Kateryna Busol, BIICL, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy: transitional justice overview, timing, amnesties, prosecutions;
Dr Anita Ferrara, Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway: truth commissions, their correlation with criminal accountability and truth-seeking as the ultimate purpose of transitional justice measures.

2. "Nothing for us without us": victims' and survivors' agency, rights and role in transitional justice.
Prof Luke Moffett, Queen's University Belfast: victim and survivor participation in the design and implementation of transitional justice initiatives;
Prof Clara Sandoval, University of Essex: modalities and timing of reparations for atrocity victims and survivors.

3. Gender-competence as an underlying principle of transitional justice measures and a key to prevention.
Prof Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, University of Minnesota: gender-competence and intersectionality in the design and implementation of transitional justice initiatives;
Prof Catherine O'Rourke, Durham University: transitional justice's gender-competence and intersectionality as a key to prevention.

4. Cultural heritage and indigenous justice mechanisms in transitional justice.
Dr Alessandro Chechi, University of Geneva: cultural heritage in transitional justice processes;
Anthony Wenton, BIICL: traditional & indigenous justice mechanisms.

5. Key arbiters and perpetrators: the reform of the judiciary and responses to corporate human rights abuses in transitional contexts.
Dr Jan van Zyl Smit, BIICL: the reform of the judiciary in transitional contexts as a foundation of fair trials and building trustworthy justice systems;
Dr Irene Pietropaoli, BIICL: transitional justice responses to corporate human rights abuses.

Course leader

Dr Kateryna Busol, BIICL and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Course format

The virtual course format will consist of a series of 5 sessions in which live (synchronous) teaching is offered via Zoom. Participants will be able to interact with the tutors and amongst themselves on screen.

Pricing and Registration

The course cost is £300 per person.

This event is available for booking but you must be logged in before you can place a booking.

Course Discounts

Member discount: 15% discount for individual members of BIICL
Details of individual memberships at BIICL 

Group Discounts:

• 15% discount for groups of 3 or more attendees from NGO organisations or staff of government
• 15% discount for groups of 5 or more attendees from commercial organisations

To apply for any of the discounted rates please Contact Us.

Training scholarships

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law is committed to equality and opportunity in the legal profession and to support greater engagement of under-represented groups in the legal profession.

In our efforts in this regard we are delighted to offer 3 scholarships for each of our short courses to participants from communities and backgrounds currently under-represented in the legal community.

Applications for training scholarships must be received at least three weeks ahead of the course start date (4 September 2024).

Find out more about training scholarships 

Join in the conversation @BIICL #BIICLTraining