Sudan has been undergoing profound changes characterized by an uncertain transition from conflict to post-conflict society and the separation of the country in the midst of ongoing human rights concerns. This book examines the nature, policy aspects and interrelationship of Sudanese criminal law and law reform in this context, situating developments in the broader debate of international human rights, rule of law and transitional justice. For the first time, Sudanese, national, regional and international experts and practitioners are brought together to share experiences, combining a range of legal and policy perspectives. The book provides valuable lessons on how relevant standards and experiences can be used to inform criminal law reform in Sudan. It also considers what broader lessons can be drawn for reform initiatives in other societies facing similar challenges. This includes the type of violations that need to be addressed in reforms as a prerequisite for enhanced human rights protection, challenges experienced in this regard, and the contribution of civil society in this process.

With a unique transitional justice perspective on the Arab Spring, this book assesses the relocation of transitional justice from the international paradigm to Islamic legal systems. The Arab uprisings and new and old conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa and other contexts where Islam is a prominent religion have sparked an interest in localising transitional justice in the legal systems of Muslim-majority communities to uncover the truth about past abuse and ensure accountability for widespread human rights violations. This raises pressing questions around how the international paradigm of transitional justice, and in particular its truth-seeking aims, might be implemented and adapted to local settings characterised by Muslim majority populations, and at the same time drawing from relevant norms and principles of Islamic law. This book offers a critical analysis of the relocation of transitional justice from the international paradigm to the legal systems of Muslim-majority societies in light of the inherently pluralistic realities of these contexts. It also investigates synergies between international law and Islamic law in furthering truth-seeking, the formation of collective memories and the victims' right to know the truth, as key aims of the international paradigm of transitional justice and broadly supported by the shari'ah. This book will be a useful reference for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to better understand the normative underpinnings of (potential) transitional truth-seeking initiatives in the legal systems of Muslim-majority societies. At the same time, it also proposes a more critical and creative way of thinking about the challenges and opportunities of localising transitional justice in contexts where the principles and ideas of Islamic law carry different meanings.

Moving away from conventional approaches to the study of the subject, the Oxford Handbook of International Criminal Law draws on insights from disciplines both outside of criminal law and outside of law itself to critically examine issues such as international criminal law's actors, rationales, boundaries, and narratives

This short and accessible book is the first to focus exclusively on the inter-relation between transitional justice and rule of law reconstruction in post-conflict and post-authoritarian states. In so doing it provides a provocative reassessment of the various tangled relationships between the two fields, exploring the blind-spots, contradictions and opportunities for mutually-beneficial synergies in practice and scholarship between them. Though it is commonly assumed that transitional justice for past human rights abuses is inherently conducive to restoring the rule of law, differences in how both fields conceptualise the rule of law, the scope of transition and obligations to citizens have resulted in divergent approaches to transitional criminal trial, international criminal law, restorative justice and traditional justice mechanisms. Adopting a critical comparative approach that assesses the experiences of post-authoritarian and post-conflict polities in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa undergoing transitional justice and justice sector reform simultaneously, it argues that the potential benefits of transitional justice are exaggerated and urges policy-makers to rebalance the compromises inherent in transitional justice mechanisms against the foundational demands of rule of law reconstruction. This book will be of interest to scholars in the fields of transitional justice, rule of law, legal pluralism and peace-building concerned by the failure of transitional justice to leave a positive legacy to the justice system of the states where it operates. ‘This is a bold and nuanced scrutiny of the international system’s approach to transitional justice and the much vaunted rule of law project. Dr McAulifee should be congratulated for this well-researched book which should be a must read for not only scholars and researchers in transitional justice and peace and conflict studies, but also policy-makers in the international system.’ Dr. Hakeem O. Yusuf, Senior Lecturer, University of Strathclyde and author of Transitional Justice, Judicial Accountability and the Rule of Law.

This book considers the efficacy of transitional justice mechanisms in response to corporate human rights abuses. Corporations and other business enterprises often operate in countries affected by conflict or repressive regimes. As such, they may become involved in human rights violations and crimes under international law ‒ either as the main perpetrators or as accomplices by aiding and abetting government actors. Transitional justice mechanisms, such as trials, truth commissions, and reparations, have usually focused on abuses by state authorities or by non-state actors directly connected to the state, such as paramilitary groups. Innovative transitional justice mechanisms have, however, now started to address corporate accountability for human rights abuses and crimes under international law and have attempted to provide redress for victims. This book analyzes this development, assessing how transitional justice can provide remedies for corporate human rights abuses and crimes under international law. Canvassing a broad range of literature relating to international criminal law mechanisms, regional human rights systems, domestic courts, truth and reconciliation commissions, and land restitution programmes, this book evaluates the limitations and potential of each mechanism. Acknowledging the limited extent to which transitional justice has been able to effectively tackle the role of corporations in human rights violations and international crimes, this book nevertheless points the way towards greater engagement with corporate accountability as part of transitional justice. A valuable contribution to the literature on transitional justice and on business and human rights, this book will appeal to scholars, researchers and PhD students in these areas, as well as lawyers and other practitioners working on corporate accountability and transitional justice.

"Did the United Nations successfully help to build a just, peaceful state and society in postconflict East Timor? Has transitional justice satisfied local demands for accountability and/or reconciliation? What lessons can be learned from the UN's efforts? Drawing on extensive field work, James DeShaw Rae offers a grassroots perspective on the relationship between peacebuilding and transitional justice. Rae traces the effects of the political violence perpetrated in East Timor during the Indonesian occupation, as well as the UN-authorized intervention and the ultimate formulation of the rebuilding effort. In the process, he explores the results of hybrid (mixed domestic-international) tribunals and the attempt to conduct war crimes tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions in tandem. Not least, his account of the impact of international actors working with the East Timorese to construct a new nation from the ground up suggests important policy prescriptions for all postconflict societies."--Publisher description.

Issue for 1946-47 includes a summary of the organization's activities from its inception to July 1, 1947.

"At the end of the 20th century, and at the dawn of the 21st, the United Nations was tasked with the administration of justice in territories placed under its executive authority, an undertaking for which there was no established precedent or doctrine. Examining the UN's legal and judicial reform efforts in Kosovo and East Timor, this volume argues that rather than helping to establish a sustainable legal system, the UN's approach detracted from it, as it confused ends with means."--Publisher's description.