Admission requirements
Required course(s):
At least one of the following:
Introduction to Socio-Legal Studies,
Principles of Public International Law,
Comparative Justice Systems.
Recommended course(s):
Law, Culture and Society,
International and Regional Human Rights,
Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies.
Description
Transitional justice is concerned with how histories that are deemed problematic should be dealt with. The field emerged in the 1990s, when societies in South America and Eastern Europe were emerging from authoritarian rule. Leaders in those regions sought to strike a balance between forging democratic governance on the one hand and redressing past wrongs on the other. Around the same time, societies coming out of war in Central America and Africa also sought to address past harms through measures that went beyond criminal trials. At that juncture Western Europe and North America seemed to dominate global politics and liberal democracy was promoted as a model around the world.
Today, the viability of that model is in doubt. Indeed, attempts at redressing historical wrongs through transitional justice have largely failed to yield stable democracies. Even so, transitional justice remains a vigorous field.
This course introduces the history of this field with a focus on recent developments, including the use of transitional justice mechanisms to address colonial pasts and transnational histories. Throughout, we ask what purposes it might serve to examine prior acts that currently are deemed to have been wrong. Might doing so add anything of value to our lives in the present moment? If so, what exactly?
Course Objectives
By successfully completing this course, students will be expected to have obtained:
Greater proficiency in certain skills, as manifested in the ability:
To communicate well in speaking and in writing,
To present their ideas clearly,
To research and analyse dynamics in the intersection between law, politics and society,
To reflect on their own values and behaviour and in response to inputs from others, and
Particular forms of knowledge, as shown in the ability:
To compare and contrast ways societies address histories that are deemed problematic,
To assess strengths and weaknesses of different measures of transitional justice, and
To explain dilemmas and trade-offs faced by societies with a history of large-scale wrongdoings.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2024-2025 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
The course is taught interactively. The key readings will be introduced in lectures and discussed in class. Each student will be part of a group that will give a presentation on a course reading. You will also be expected to participate by writing individual reflections.
In the second half of the course, we will run a simulation focused on one process of tentative redress for historical wrongdoing. The actors in that process will have various positions as to which measures should be taken and who should take responsibility for what, regarding the past events in question. Each student will be assigned a role to play, and your task will be to flesh out your position on how the past wrongs should be acknowledged and remedied. Playing your role, you will be expected to try to advocate for your position as convincingly as possible, while also seeking alliances and compromises in view of reaching a transitional justice settlement.
In a final essay, you will be expected to examine a question about transitional justice by analysing one or two cases of your choice. The questions will be circulated in Week 7 of the course.
Assessment Method
Group presentation: 10%
Reflections: 15%
Simulation participation: 19%
Simulation position paper: 16%
Essay: 40%
Reading list
The reading list will be made available upon commencement of the course.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Ingrid Samset, i.samset@luc.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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