The law school’s Center for Social Justice and Public Service, in conjunction with the Institute of International and Comparative Law, inaugurated this year’s Social Justice Workshop on “Transitional Justice” with a lecture by Professor Laurel Fletcher of U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall. Professor Beth Van Schaack, an expert in international law, will lead the workshop which features visiting scholars who share their work on transitional justice from different disciplines (see schedule below).
“Transitional justice concerns the choices states make about addressing the crimes of the past after they emerge from periods of mass violence, civil war, or state-sponsored repression,” explains Professor Van Schaack. “States must account for the crimes of the past before they can establish a more liberal and democratic future where the rule of law is paramount.” Professor Van Schaack has worked on issues related to transitional justice as a Law Clerk with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and as acting Executive Director of The Center for Justice & Accountability in San Francisco. She has also worked with the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a human rights documentation center based on Phnom Penh dedicated toward promoting justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge, which ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979.
The Workshop will address processes of transitional justice from a comparative perspective, focusing on emblematic transitional moments in diverse regions of the world. With these case studies, students and guest speakers will consider the way in which relevant actors developed, negotiated, and implemented a transitional program, as well as the durability of the solutions adopted. Participants will evaluate the legal and extralegal responses to mass atrocity, such as international and domestic prosecutions, truth commissions, lustration, amnesty laws, memorials, and reparations for victims. Students will also consider the immediate and long-term effects of transitional justice efforts on individuals and communities. They will also examine the way in which the various transitional models promote processes of forgiveness and reconciliation. As events unfold during the semester, these issues will be considered in light of contemporary transitions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, East Timor, and elsewhere.
The following guest lectures are open to members of the wider university community and the general public. Each lecture will be followed by a reception with the speaker in the Strong Commons Room (Bergin Hall) and small group dinners with students and faculty.
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Monday, 8/23/04, 3 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Laurel Fletcher (U.C. Berkeley – Boalt Hall): International Legalism and Social Reconstruction After Mass Violence: Does Law Help or Hurt?
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Monday, 9/13/04, 4 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Ron Slye (Seattle University): Accountability and Amnesties for Gross Violations of Human Rights – A Perspective on South Africa -
Wednesday, 10/13/0, 4 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Naomi Roht-Arriaza (U.C. Hastings): The Justice Cascade -
Monday, 11/1/04, 4 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Noah Novogrodsky (University of Toronto): The Special Court for Sierra Leone: Recent Developments and the Implications for African Human Rights -
Monday, 11/8/04, 4 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Jane Curry (Santa Clara University): The Eastern European Experience with Transition -
Monday, 11/15/04, 4 p.m. in Panelli Moot Court Room (Bergin Hall)
Phuong Pham (Tulane University): The Potential for Justice and Reconciliation in Iraq
