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Five pillars of transitional justice
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Transitional justice refers to the processes that address state crimes during a society’s transition from violent conflict or authoritarian rule (Anderlini, Conaway & Kays, 2004). Such mechanism aims at bringing closure of conflicts, healing the wounds of individuals and society, preventing human rights violations from repeating, and rebuilding confidence in the new judicial and political system (Anderlini et al., 2014).
Among East Asian new democracies, South Korea is arguably the most successful case in dealing with the previous regime after the democratic transition. In the historical 1996 trial, two former presidents were convicted of treasons for launching the December 12 coup of 1979 and ordering the brutal repression of the Kwangju
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Such mechanisms aimed at bringing closure of conflicts, healing the wounds of individual and society, preventing human rights abuses from repeating, and instilling trusts in the new judicial and political systems (Anderlini et al., 2004). Despite being on the opposite ends of the spectrum, the pursuit of justice and reconciliation are both an end to the cycles of conflicts (Anderlini et al., 2004). While retributive justice lays stress on punishment of wrongdoings, reparations and compensations (Elster, 2006), reconciliation could refer to remorse, apology, a political form of consensus, or a long-term process of psychological rebuilding within the community (Anderlini et al., …show more content…
Victims and citizens have the right to know the truth (Han, 2005). Criminal and administrative investigations serve as a legal response that provide spaces for truth inquiry, so that retribution and restoration could be carried out based on confirmed facts (Elster, 2006). In this sense, recognition, at least to a certain extent, of past wrongs is an indispensable part of transitional justice (Han, 2005). Social knowledge of the past is simultaneously reconstructed as the former regime being rejected (Anderlini et al., 2004). In other words, law and legal processes have a profound impact on shaping collective memory, which further contributes to reaching political consensus under the new politics (Teitel,
According to Graham, reconciliation is both “… a goal in the sense that it aims to restore relationships or to promote agonism or mutual tolerance, respect, and dignity […] [And] it is a process because it requires multiple modes, steps, stages, and transformations across all levels of society and amongst all stakeholders in a conflict” (Graham 2015). Through reconciliation and the related processes of restorative justice, parties to the dispute explore and overcome the pain brought on by the conflict and find ways to build trust and live cooperatively with each other. Restorative justice seeks to have a positive impact on offenders by confronting them with the consequences of their actions and delineating their responsibilities, giving them both the opportunity to repair the damage caused to the victim and to work on finding a solution to their problems (Umbreit, Bradshaw and Coates, 1999). According to Philpott, there are six components of political reconciliation: building socially just institutions and relations between states, acknowledgement, reparations, punishment, apology, and forgiveness (Philpott
in practice, forgiveness often produces exemption from punishment. Especially when a governmental body adopts a forgiving attitude toward offenders, the instrument often takes the form of amnesty or pardon, preempting prosecution and punishment. This institutionalizes forgetfulness, and sacrifices justice in a foreshortened effort to move on. Moreover, such an effort to move on often fails because the injury is not so much forgiven but publicly ignored, leaving it to
Restorative justice is defined as “using humanistic, no punitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony” (Siegel, 2008, p. 189). Instead of imposing harsh penalties on offenders like long prison sentences or even the death penalty, restorative justice calls for a more rehabilitative approach, such as reconciliation and offender assistance.
For our government to function it must be able to resolve the conflicts that arise as a result of this ‘struggle’. The rule of law is the principle that enables reconciliation and its primacy to the successful implementation of our government cannot be understated. Simply stated t...
“Restorative justice is a process whereby parties with a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve how to deal with the aftermath of the offence and its implications for the future” (Munchie, 2004).
Restoration Restorative justice is based on bringing together the victim, the offender, and the community; all have equal parts in repairing the relationships destroyed by
Stewart, M. (2011). The space between the steps: reckoning in an area of reconciliation. Contemporary Justice Review, 14(1), 43-63. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/10282580.2011.541076
Does justice exist in America? Yes, justice does exist in America, but for whom is the question real question. In America all citizens should feel equal to one another but that is not the case. Rather than feeling equal to one another, the blacks and whites of the country feel hatred to one another. In American justice is served but it is mainly for whites and not blacks. The word justice is defined as the quality of being fair and reasonable. Unfortunately in America, justice is not always equally served due to racism in the modern society.
...onse crime control measures would be adopted resulting in an autocratic criminal justice system in which individual rights are frequently infringed in order to punish the guilty. When this is too much, due process would be used again, and so the vicious cycle begins and continues. The outcome is one that is consistently failing to satisfy the needs of the system and the public. It is for this precise reason, along with the others mentioned within this essay, that render a single, simple and straightforward answer to not only be inadequate, but actually counter-productive as it fuels the inimical cycle. Instead, a flexible approach in which a union of both principles may produce a hybrid model most effective in removing the simplicity and shortcomings of the individual models and thus settling one of the main conflicts of interest within the criminal justice system.
As the purpose of restorative justice is to mend the very relationship between the victim, offender, and society, communities that embrace restorative justice foster an awareness on how the act has harmed others. Braithwaite (1989) notes that by rejecting only the criminal act and not the offender, restorative justice allows for a closer empathetic relationship between the offender, victims, and community. By acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the offender and their ability to contribute back to the community, restorative justice shows how all individuals are capable of being useful despite criminal acts previous. This encourages offenders to safely reintegrate into society, as they are encouraged to rejoin and find rapport with the community through their emotions and
Agreeing on a definition of restorative justice has proved difficult. One definition is a theory of justice that focuses mostly on repairing the harm caused by criminal behaviour. The reparation is done through a cooperative process that includes all the stakeholders. Restorative justice can also be explained as an approach of justice that aims to satisfy the needs of the victims and offenders, as well as the entire community. The most broadly accepted definition for restorative justice, however, is a process whereby all the parties that have a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve on how to deal with the aftermath. This process is largely focused around reparation, reintegration and participation of victims. That is to say, it is a victim-centred approach to criminal justice, and it perceives crime differently than the adversarial system of justice.
Wemmers (1996) highlights that an effective criminal justice system also protects human rights. Victims are gradually being seen as the notable possessors of such rights that lead to reviews in our domestic system and also by international bodies. The protection of said rights, such as in South Africa where less express definitions between ‘victim’ and ‘human’ rights are being made by policy m...
“Restorative justice is an approach to crime and other wrongdoings that focuses on repairing harm and encouraging responsibility and involvement of the parties impacted by the wrong.” This quote comes from a leading restorative justice scholar named Howard Zehr. The process of restorative justice necessitates a shift in responsibility for addressing crime. In a restorative justice process, the citizens who have been affected by a crime must take an active role in addressing that crime. Although law professionals may have secondary roles in facilitating the restorative justice process, it is the citizens who must take up the majority of the responsibility in healing the pains caused by crime. Restorative justice is a very broad subject and has many other topics inside of it. The main goal of the restorative justice system is to focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders, and the community, and focus
Restorative Justice is an approach to the justice system that focuses on the needs of both the
Every country has a form of criminal justice system. This system consists in a different series of organizations that work together to defend, sentence and punish those that did not follow the law or have been involved in any type of crime. In most of the countries, the system is similar be-cause is based on law enforcement agencies, attorney generals, judges, courts of law and prisons. All of these organizations work together to contribute towards the better enhancement of the working cooperation within the criminal justice system. However, these procedures won’t al-ways be fully applicable in certain countries.