The Amnesty Controversy in International Law

Freeman, Mark; Pensky, Max

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139177153.005

Cited by 29 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Morgan, 2002) that the legislation established an amnesty for those involved in the murders and ‘disappearances’, this remains a point of contention. An amnesty is a negation of criminal and civil liability (Freeman and Pensky, 2012; McEvoy and Mallinder, 2012). This legislation did not provide such an unqualified guarantee of non-prosecution (Poole, 2009).…”

Section: ‘Disappearing’ Pre-legislation Negotiation and Quiet Diplomacymentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Quiet’ Transitional Justice: ‘Publicness’, Trust and Legitimacy in the Search for the ‘Disappeared’

Dempster¹

2019

Social & Legal Studies

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There is a pragmatic value to developing Transitional Justice (TJ) processes quietly. At first glance, such ‘quietness’ may seem to contradict the principles often associated with TJ, such as ‘publicness’, openness and the leaving behind of secrecy and silence. However, I argue that behind-the-scenes efforts and processes are an often-overlooked part of more public-facing TJ mechanisms, and that their quiet nature raises questions that should be more fully understood, particularly around the notions of trust and legitimacy. This article introduces the notion of ‘quiet’ TJ, drawing on the example of the establishment of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains – established to locate the remains of Northern Ireland’s ‘disappeared’. I argue that quiet diplomatic efforts in the development of legislation, and the ‘quiet’ passage of that legislation, facilitated the development of a workable mechanism which has, to a large extent, been effective, has facilitated (limited) truth recovery and the development of trust and can be argued to have legitimacy.

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Section: ‘Disappearing’ Pre-legislation Negotiation and Quiet Diplomacymentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Quiet’ Transitional Justice: ‘Publicness’, Trust and Legitimacy in the Search for the ‘Disappeared’

Dempster¹

2019

Social & Legal Studies

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“…First, the ICC's existence enabled many international lawyers to claim that formal amnesties for international crimes were illegal, although some international lawyers have challenged this argument (Freeman 2009, Freeman & Pensky 2012. Second, the ICC's complementarity clause also signaled a game-changing aspiration to undo the primacy that had been granted to ad hoc tribunals and strengthen the sovereignty of states and their national courts (Struett 2008, Nouwen 2013.…”

Section: International Criminal Courtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The many variations of this model are tailored to specific circumstances, but its basic features are as follows: It is an officially organized commission that gathers evidence about broad historical patterns of rights violations, not just a single event; often receives testimony from victims and sometimes from perpetrators; and publishes a report with recommendations for measures to promote reform, restitution, or reconciliation (Chapman & Ball 2001, Freeman 2006, Hayner 2010, Wiebelhaus-Brahm 2010. In Argentina, a truth commission was a prelude to trials.…”

Section: Truth Commissionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The popularity of this approach was sustained through the past four decades, even increasing in the 1990s, but it also came under intense international pressure. In 2009, the UN issued formal guidelines on the use of amnesties (OHCHR 2009, Mallinder 2012), but some leading international legal scholars contested the dominant assumption that amnesties were illegal for international crimes (Freeman 2009). The Belfast Guidelines attempted to delineate ideal practices for the use of conditional amnesty.…”

Section: Amnestymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Belfast Guidelines attempted to delineate ideal practices for the use of conditional amnesty. Scholars likewise delineated the types of possible amnesties, noting that amnesties may be unconditional or conditional on stepping down from office, surrendering weapons, demobilizing a fighting force, stopping abusive practices, or testifying before a truth commission (Mallinder 2008, Freeman 2009, Transitional Justice Institute 2013.…”

Section: Amnestymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Law and Politics in Transitional Justice

Vinjamuri

Snyder

2015

Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci.

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The tension between law and politics places transitional justice under crosspressures. The impetus to hold perpetrators legally accountable for atrocities and major rights violations has emerged in part from the expectation that subjecting political behavior to the apolitical judgment of law will exert a civilizing effect. As demands for accountability have risen, politics has played a central role at every step. The past decade has seen a flourishing of research in empirical political science on the relationship between law and politics in postconflict and postauthoritarian justice. This research has tried to explain the turn to individual legal accountability and the development of norms and institutions for accountability. Research has stressed the role of politics in shaping the implementation of trials and other modes of accountability. It has also examined the consequences of these modes of accountability. We address research on each of these topics. 303 Annu. Rev. Polit. Sci. 2015.18:303-327. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by WIB6013 -Freie Universitaet Berlin -FU Berlin on 05/15/15. For personal use only.

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International Law and Transitional Justice: The Difficulties of Abiding by the Obligations to Investigate and Prosecute in Countries Facing a Transition

Sarsina

2019

Transitional Justice and a State’s Response to Mass Atrocity

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The Amnesty Controversy in International Law

Cited by 29 publications

References 3 publications

‘Quiet’ Transitional Justice: ‘Publicness’, Trust and Legitimacy in the Search for the ‘Disappeared’

‘Quiet’ Transitional Justice: ‘Publicness’, Trust and Legitimacy in the Search for the ‘Disappeared’

Law and Politics in Transitional Justice

International Law and Transitional Justice: The Difficulties of Abiding by the Obligations to Investigate and Prosecute in Countries Facing a Transition

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