Transitional Justice in Israel and Palestine
Joint project with the Minerva Centers for Human Rights in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel
“Transitional Justice” (TJ) covers a broad spectrum of legal and societal measures with the aim of guiding the shift from conflict and oppression toward a state of peace and justice.
Critical components are addressing, acknowledging, punishing, and mediating past injustices in order to in gradually dissipate fear and mistrust among diverse population groups. Measures seek to restore trust in the protective and regulatory functions of the state and to foster the cultivation of a sustainable foundation of values for collective future endeavors.
The concomitant legal research field invesistages the complex and prolonged aspects of development and reconciliation processes in the light of international human rights and other international legal principles and procedures, in their interplay with domestic law. Legal problems concern, for example, the investigations and prosecution of war crimes in the context of intra-state, ethnically, or religiously motivated conflicts. The necessary collaboration among states, international organisations, civil society actors as well as corporate and other private actors raises complex legal questions.
Under the heading of TJ, a number of conferences, reading groups, research stays, as well as individual doctoral and post-doctoral projects were conducted at all three sites. Themes were, inter alia, the legal construction of identities, the role of civil society and the private sector, and the gender aspect.
One outcome of the project was Julia Emtseva’s dissertation, completed in 2024.
See the final report of the entire project (Heidelberg side) here.
