Projects

Transitional Justice

The NYU Program on Transitional Justice brings together teaching, research, conferences and student field work on criminal trials, truth commissions, institutional reform and reparations programs in transitional democracies, ranging from East Timor and Iraq to Sierra Leone and Peru.

The Center’s Transitional Justice Program Director is Paul van Zyl, who was the Executive Secretary of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is the Program Director of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). The NYU Program benefits from the ongoing support and contributions of Dr. Alex Boraine, who served as Deputy Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A founder of the ICTJ, he is now its Board’s Chairperson and was a member of the 2005-06 Global Law Faculty at NYU School of Law.

Paul van Zyl speaks at the launch of The Handbook on Reparations.

The Center and its staff have undertaken a number of projects in this area:

• Our Transitional Justice Program Director covers the transitional justice field through two seminar courses which examine both the conceptual underpinnings of this field and case studies of particular transitional societies.
• All LL.M. applicants have the opportunity to apply for a program that will enable them to focus their studies on the issues surrounding transitional justice: the Transitional Justice Scholars Program. Transitional Justice Scholars are guaranteed enrollment in the two courses that comprise the classroom component of the Project. This rigorous academic exercise will be complemented with the opportunity to undertake internships during the academic year. As an additional benefit, upon completion of the LL.M. degree, scholars will receive unpaid internship placement assistance with a variety of transitional justice institutions.
• The ICTJ, in partnership with NYU School of Law, offers the Transitional Justice Essentials Course, New York: a 3-day intensive, non-credit course on transitional justice. The primary instructor for the course is Paul van Zyl. The course covers the essential themes, mechanisms, and case studies in the field of transitional justice. It focuses on a range of topics including prosecution mechanisms, truth commissions, reparations programs, vetting mechanisms, and reconciliation initiatives. It also explores the intersection between efforts to achieve justice and accountability, and negotiations to ensure sustainable peace. The course aims to equip busy professionals with the knowledge required to conceive and implement transitional justice policies and programs that are in line with international best practices. The program is primarily targeted at mid-level and senior staff of multilateral agencies, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, and universities who wish to undertake an intensive course on cutting-edge developments in this important and expanding field. The first course was held at NYU School of Law from June 21 - 23, 2006.
• The Center offers a comprehensive range of transitional justice fellowships, which enable students to undertake research and fieldwork on criminal trials, truth commissions, institutional reform and reparations programs in transitional democracies.
• The Center has enriched the field of transitional justice by exploring new ways to address the dilemma of how to deal with past human rights violations. A number of the papers included in our Working Papers series, many of which were written by Center members and former students, address evolving transitional justice issues, such as the question of restitution and memory and returning refugees.
• In collaboration with the ICTJ, the Center hosts the CHRGJ Annual Transitional Justice Lecture, which provides a prominent platform for distinguished persons working on transitional justice issues to deliver a scholarly paper on important developments in the field. On November 18, 2004, Prof. José Zalaquett delivered the inaugural Annual Lecture on Transitional Justice on the topic The Ethics of Democratic Reconstruction: Truth and Justice in the Wake of Dictatorship and Armed Conflict (1984-2004). Zalaquett is currently President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Professor of Human Rights at the University of Chile and Co-Director of its Human Rights Center, and served as a member of Chile’s National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation.
• In 2006, the CHRGJ Annual Transitional Justice Lecture featured the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour.