Transitional Justice

by Ruti G. Teitel

At the century's end, societies all over the world are throwing off the yoke of authoritarian rule and beginning to build democracies. At any such time of radical change, the question should a society punish its ancien regime or let bygones be bygones? Transitional Justice takes this question to a new level with an interdisciplinary approach that challenges the very terms of the contemporary debate.

Ruti Teitel explores the recurring dilemma of how regimes should respond to evil rule, arguing against the prevailing view favoring punishment, yet contending that the law nevertheless plays a profound role in periods of radical change. Pursuing a comparative and historical approach, she presents a compelling analysis of constitutional, legislative, and administrative responses to injustice following political upheaval. She proposes a new normative conception of justice--one that is highly politicized--offering glimmerings of the rule of law that, in her view, have become symbols of liberal transition.

Its challenge to the prevailing assumptions about transitional periods makes this timely and provocative book essential reading for policymakers and scholars of revolution and new democracies.

Genres: Law, Nonfiction

404 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Fiona]

I remember where I was when I discovered the course of study that was made for me to follow. Durham University's biggest Riverside lecture theatre, October 2010. The lecture was on transitional justice in Kosovo. When I left, I headed straight for the library; a few weeks later, I applied for a masters course in International Law, specialising in human rights, humanitarian law, and the blurred boundary between them.

Transitional justice is everything interesting about the law for me: creation, application, dissolution. It refers to regime changes, largely from former totalitarianism to some new, optimistic future. The questions it asks are how do you even carry on after a complete change of regime? Who can do it? How do you draw a legal line after what's happened before? What is your future going to look like? I love it because it's law's loftiest ideals, as exactly the moment they meet its most difficult challenges.

Ruti Teitel's book is the book on transitional justice. Of course, there are hundreds of others, but Teitel did a comprehensive study that was unprecedented: theoretical, practical, wide-reaching... and incredibly dry. This book is not accessible. It is written for lawyers. I can read thirty pages in a sitting and then I have to go and sit somewhere else and drink a large glass of water.

For several years, one of the things I wanted to do most in the world was write a book bringing Teitel's work, which is ongoing (I think she wrote an update about two years back, which I'd love to get my hands on) to a larger audience. Because it's fascinating, and increasingly topical, and I think people who aren't legal scholars ought to be able to read about it. One day, I may still do that. This book is very important to me, much as it's nearly indigestible sometimes. Its contents deserve to be more broadly known.

[Mariliza Karalioliou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by an admirable person, and one of the academics that actually coined the term. Despite it's academic nature, Teitel makes you enjoy every sentence of this book. Really helpful to deeply undarstand the meaning of the concept of Transitional Justice.

[Puri Kencana Putri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book proposes an idea of transitional justice mechanisms in order to portrait society problems under the democratic transition countries. The author defines transitional justice as a framework to solve the fundamental problems of society, in political flux, through judicial and non-judicial approaches. This approach emphasizes the concept of accountability, justice, and how to uphold reconciliation in fragmented society. This framework is very important in order to deal with the massive and systematic past abuses that has been done by the prior authoritarian regime around the world.

Teitel explores reverberation dilemma on how each transition democratic governments should face the evil of human rights abuses and gruesome memories about what happened in the past. Teitel emphasizes that each governments should strengthening the power of rule of law, in which always play a profound role in society. Through historical and comparative approaches Teitel offers an interesting analysis about constitutional reform, legislative, and administrative challenges as an important element to addressing injustice, which made by political turmoil in the past. On the whole, we can categorized this book as Transitional Justice 101, wherein plenty of international law and human rights students who focuses on transitional justice discourse would be greatly helped by this book. Teitel’s thought is very descriptive, forehanded, and well studied.