Tags
IJ
Admissions requirements
One of the following (or both):
International Humanitarian Law and/or
International and Regional Human Rights.
Description
Armed conflicts and authoritarian forms of rule tend to come with the commission of human rights violations on a large scale. As societies come out of war or dictatorship, actors in them have to find a way to deal with the legacy of human rights abuses. And so actors in such societies have done, and increasingly do in our time.
As the Second World War ended, the Allies set up tribunals in Nuremberg and Tokyo to hold to account those responsible for some of the most serious wartime crimes. As white minority rule gave way to multi-party democracy in South Africa, a truth commission was set up so that the history of apartheid could be documented, the victims be recognised and former adversaries begin to converge on a shared understanding of their past. In Colombia, the 2016 peace deal that ended the long civil war included an agreement to establish a special jurisdiction to try alleged wartime crimes, to be operating alongside a truth commission. These institutions have now started their work.
How do societies that emerge from large-scale conflict address the legacy of violence, and to what effect? In this course we examine this, investigating various cases and drawing on a literature spanning various disciplines and fields.
Mechanisms or measures of justice in transitions:
Criminal prosecutions
Truth commissions
Amnesties
Reparations
Official apologies
Cross-cutting debates:Retributive vs. restorative justice
Whose justice?
Transitional justice in time
The space for transitional justice.
Course objectives
Skills:
By completing this course, students should be able to:
- Apply terms and ideas that are central in the transitional justice field to real-world settings and problems.
Knowledge:
By completing this course, students should be able to:
Compare and contrast various ways in which societies in transition deal with a legacy of human rights violations,
Assess strengths and weaknesses of different mechanisms of transitional justice, and
Explain dilemmas and trade-offs faced by societies that come out of a history of armed conflict and/or authoritarian rule.
Timetable
Once available, timetables will be published in the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
The course consists of 14 two-hour interactive seminars. Readings will be discussed in plenary and smaller groups, and once in the course, each student will be part of a group that will present on two readings in class. Students will also be expected to participate by reflecting on what you learn in the course and on your own learning process by writing an individual online journal.
In Weeks 5 and 6, students will simulate negotiations about a situation in which large-scale human rights violations have occurred. The aim of the simulation is to apply knowledge gained up to that point in the course so as to work out an agreement on how transitional justice can be realized in response to the context in question. Each student will play a role as representative of a party to the talks — e.g. of governments, civil society groups, victims’ associations, political parties, transnational networks, regional organisations or other relevant stakeholders.
Assessment
Group presentations (15%) (Weeks 2-4 of the course),
Simulation (Weeks 5-6): participation (15%) and position paper (15%),
Individual journal (entry due dates throughout the course, to be specified; 15%),
Essay (due in Week 8; 40%).
Please note:
In accordance with article 4.8 of the Course and Examination Regulations (OER), within 30 days after the publication of grades, the instructor will provide students the opportunity to inspect their exams.
There is a no re-sit policy at Leiden University College.
Blackboard
There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.
Reading list
The list of course materials will be made available upon commencement of the course.
Registration
This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr Ingrid Samset
Email: i.samset@luc.leidenuniv.nl