Transitional Justice in a New Era

This Essay offers an evaluation of the status of transitional justice in the wake of the new century and millennium. This Essay analyzes the evolution and direction of transitional justice in the new era and makes three observations about the current directions in transitional justice developments. Part I contend that while transitional justice is associated with a universal rights discourse, in recent decades of heightened transition, the conception of transitional justice has been closely associated with diverse nation-building projects and related local understandings of the rule of law and legitimacy. Part II addresses the ways contemporary transitional justice reflects its association with globalizing politics.

Part III addresses how the contemporary persistence and expansion of transitional justice reflect the apparent normalization of law in a period of post-conflict, despite supposed peacetime. This Essay offers a discourse on the global rule of law as it comprehends post-nationalist politics, despite lacking legitimacy in its derogations from peacetime liberal rule of law.