Evaluating Transitional Justice ― Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-conflict Sierra Leone

Demonstrating groundbreaking analysis, this is the first major study to evaluate the transitional justice programme in Sierra Leone. Rather than focusing on a single mechanism, the authors examine how the Special Court, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), local justice initiatives and reparations programme interacted. Contributors to the book include the Prosecutor of the Special Court and one of the Commissioners from the TRC, alongside a range of experts on transitional justice, on international law and on Sierra Leone. The authors consider the political and normative drivers of transitional justice and the lessons that the Sierra Leone programme stands to offer other post-conflict situations. The importance of long-term planning, local partnership and the management of the politics and trade-offs for future transitional justice programmes cannot be underestimated. This edited volume makes a significant contribution to the field by demonstrating how contextual knowledge should be used alongside normative standards when evaluating transitional justice.

Kirsten Ainley is an Assistant Professor in International Relations and Director of the Centre for International Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published on transitional justice, the International Criminal Court, individual and collective responsibility and the notion of evil in international law and politics.

Rebekka Friedman is a Lecturer in International Peace and Security at King's College London. Her research expertise focuses on the contribution of formal and informal transitional justice mechanisms to reconciliation and peace-building in post-conflict societies. She is Co-Convener of the KCL War Crimes Research Group.

Chris Mahony is Citizen Security and Criminal Justice Specialist at The World Bank Group, a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Law Research and Policy and Visiting Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. His research seeks to explain the contemporary trajectory of international criminal justice and its implications for global peace and security.