Annual Student Conference 2012
Dealing with the Past and Transitional Justice
28 February 2012
In a post-conflict situation, transitional justice is a society's attempt to deal with and come to terms with large-scale human rights violations. This may include reparations for victims, perpetrator accountability, promoting the participation of civil society, truth-seeking, as well as systemic reform.
Transitional justice mechanisms must be grounded in, comply with and promote international human rights standards. The 2012 Conference explored and critically assessed the fundamental interrelation of human rights and transitional justice. By encouraging multi-disciplinary participation, the conference seeks to present differing viewpoints on various aspects of human rights and transitional justice.
Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers included:
- Professor Colm Campbell, Transitional Justice Unit, University of Ulster
- Carla Ferstman, Director of Redress
- Professor Michael O'Flaherty, Chief Commissioner, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Vice-Chairperson, UN Human Rights Committee
- Mona Rishmawi, Chief of OHCHR's Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch
- Dr Olympia Bekou, Assistant Professor, Head of Human Rights Law Centre's International Criminal Justice Unit
Student panels
Architecture of Justice: rebuilding a country through national, regional and international courts
Annelen Micus (Bucerius Law School) The Inter-American Court of Human Rights as a valuable instrument in the fight against impunity. The duty to investigate and prosecute vs. Latin American amnesty law
Manuela Melandri (University College London) Dealing with the past in Burundi: could 'accountability gaps' be addressed through a regional mechanism for international criminal justice?
Samantha Salsench I Linares (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Human rights and national prosecution of international crimes: the case of the enforced disappearances committed under the Francoist regime.
Mark Chadwick (University of Nottingham) Universal Jurisdiction and Transitional Justice: A Match Made in Heaven or Hell?
Transitional Justice and Human Rights: Contemporary Perspectives and New Ideas
Hannah Croucher (University of Canterbury) Transitional Justice and Women's Rights
Zena Prodromou (University of Cambridge) Transitional Justice and the Right of Development. When Transitional Justice addresses the principles of International Investment Law.
George Kim Pierenkemper (University of Hamburg) How Transitional Justice tries to deal with the term 'justice' - A Case Study from Cambodia.
A Closer Look: Transitional Justice experiences around the world
Alice Panepinto (Durham University) Developing the Rule of Law and Human Rights through Transitional Justice: Dealing with Post-Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa
Ahmed Ali M Khayre (Birkbeck College, University of London) 'Looking the Beast in the Eye': Politics of Justice, Human Rights and Reconciliation in Collapsed States like Somalia
Matthew Pattemore (University of Canterbury) Kirkuk - Litmus Test of new Iraq
Jarlath Kearney (University of Ulster) Continuum during transition: the context and consequences of failing to fundamentally transform Northern Ireland's permanent Senior Civil Service
Facing the Truth - Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Jamil Ladha (University of Nottingham) Reconciling Realities in Iraq and Libya
Kyla Sankey (University of Warwick) Between Amnesty and Impunity: Colombia's Justice and Peace Law
Almut Gadow de Mayor (University of Nottingham) Can truth and reconciliation be unilateral? The (one-sided) case of Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Giovanna Frisso (University of Nottingham) The Brazilian Truth Commission: Continuity or Rupture
Amaia Alvarez (University of Ulster) The Fundamentals for a Truth Recovery Process for the Basque Country - Lessons from (and for) Northern Ireland
Student Conference Committee
Angelika Reichstein - Committee Coordinator, Tatiana Rother, Mairead De Faoite, Jana Hlavacova, Jakob Lingg
Please download the Conference programme