Abstract
Fletcher explores how assumptions about justice have succeeded in establishing a new international consensus on necessary processes of rebuilding societies, some pitfalls of this approach, and recommendations for new directions for the field of transitional justice. A central assumption animating the moral, political, and legal cases for transitional justice is that those responsible for unleashing and conducting mass violence that devastates countries and the lives of civilian residents should not get away with their criminal acts. And further, supporters of justice assume that a legal response is necessary in order to promote reconciliation. He thinks that the appropriate role of the law depends critically on the situation, including the cultural identities involved and the timing of the response, and that the international community should rethink its rush to aid conflict resolution with criminal tribunals.
Citation
Laurel E. Fletcher,
Institutions From Above and Voices From Below: A Comment on Challenges to Group-Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation,
72 Law and Contemporary Problems
51-56
(Spring 2009)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol72/iss2/5