Transitional Justice: The Evolution of an Essential Component of Post-Conflict Peace Building Processes

Abstract

The term transitional justice has become synonymous with contemporary post-conflict peace
building processes. The concept evolved from modest theoretical assumptions into distinctive
models. The formal origins of the transitional justice concept can be traced to the 1990s,
following the demise of the Eastern Communist bloc when nations experienced transition from
autocratic to democratic rule. The roots of the concept can however be traced back to major
peace settlements such as the Congress of Vienna (1815), the Paris Peace Settlement (1918)
and the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials after 1945. The major challenge it faced was acceptability
and legitimacy; it was largely viewed as an instrument devised invariably to punish either the
vanquished or the perceived perpetrators. This criticism may have informed the concept’s
evolution from being a vindictive ‘victor’s justice’ seeker into defined frameworks such as
criminal tribunals, commissions and courts. This paradigm shift was evidenced by the United
Nations’ recognition of the framework and its deployment in Yugoslavia (1993), Rwanda
(1994) and Sierra Leone (2002). Arguably, success story of these case studies’ motivated the
formation of the International Criminal Court in 2003. The paper will underscore the
importance of contexts in the choice of transitional options.