What is transitional justice?

30 November 2021 By

in partnership with IFJD

Jean-Pierre Massias, president of IFJD and professor of law, tells how, beyond the doctrine, this field of action in the face of mass violence has been formed in a progressive and pragmatic way. How did transitional justice come about? How did it take off in the 1990s? Why is it conditioned by the environment in which it develops? Massias lists the five typical situations in which this justice that goes back in time is mobilized, this justice of transition (to democracy or peace, for example), which aims to prevent the repetition of violence by looking into its causes.

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UNDERSTANDING TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE | Episode 1 >

In partnership with IFJD

Every week, on social networks, readers of Justice Info ask us this question: what is transitional justice? So, in June 2021, when the Institut francophone pour la justice et la démocratie (IFJD) proposed a partnership on educational videos that it has produced but which, its managers think, deserve a wider public audience than academic circles, we had no hesitation.

IFJD’s top transitional justice experts explain in a few minutes the history of these mechanisms and practices of justice in the face of mass violence. They detail some of its main principles, illustrating them with concrete examples of how they have been implemented. And they introduce us to its many fields of application, which are constantly evolving.