Corporations - their power and impact on society - are a neglected topic in political philosophy. In this thesis, I attempt to address this neglect by using the framework of Rawlsian justice to examine what corporations' relationship to social and international justice ought to be. The first part of the thesis is on domestic social justice. I urge that Rawlsians should not begin their inquiry by taking the corporate form as given because the corporation's existence requires a specific set of private-ordering and property rules to be in place. What we should ask, instead, is whether these rules are actually permitted by the two principles of justice as fairness. This question leads to an examination of different economic regimes that are compatible with Rawlsian justice. I focus on one particular regime - that of property-owning democracy. What I find is that while not all versions of property-owning democracy would permit the corporate form, some would actually welcome it due to the feature of 'the separation of ownership and control' that is typical of modern corporations. The second part of the thesis is on international justice. I argue that the best way to situate corporations in Rawls's theory of international justice - his Law of Peoples - is to connect them to the duty of assistance. This is not a straightforward task because a relatively strict reading of the duty of assistance would disallow treating corporations as primarily responsible for discharging it. However, a revisionist approach to the Law of Peoples shows that we can understand the duty of assistance as a part of transitional justice. The significance of this is that Rawls's prescribed ideal theory of international justice does not determine who the agents for transitional justice ought to be or the grounds for attributing responsibility to such agents. We are thus free to adopt David Miller's criteria for attribution of remedial responsibilities to assign to corporations responsibilities for the duty of assistance. What is more, in a particular area of international justice - that of fairness in trade - we can establish that corporations can be primary agents of transitional justice.

Why do some (non)violent civil resistances in nondemocracies achieve democracy while others do not? In order to answer this question, this project examined factors that result in different outcomes and the mechanisms critical to democratization. In particular, I paid close attention to whether autocracies failing after successful (non)violent civil resistance adopted transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms such as trials, truth commissions, and amnesty, and how civil society worked in each course of democratization. I explored the conditions of democratic consolidation (e.g., economic development, democratic neighbors, and political institution) and among them, focused on the civil culture that led citizens to participate positively and actively in politics with belief and trust. I found that in the course of democratization, implementing TJ policies is necessary in order to build inter-group trust and encourage citizens to participate critically in political reform. Because TJ mechanisms are designed to make past wrongdoers accountable and reconcile conflicting sides, these approaches can strengthen civic culture and promote reconciliation by restoring the rule of law and rebuilding victims’ dignity. In addition, I argued that a robust civil society (CS) plays a vital role in sustaining democracy, not only by encouraging TJ adoption, but also by playing roles such as supporter, mobilizer, enforcer, monitor, and so on. In this context, I suggested that (non)violent civil resistance can contribute to building a robust CS. Particularly, nonviolent and large resistance with diverse participants can increase the capacity, legitimacy, and representativeness of a CS so that it can play its role(s) properly. Statistical analysis with large-n data supported these arguments. Despite the controversy in the literature, adoption of TJ policies turned out to be a positively significant factor for achieving democratic consolidation; and, the robustness of CS, which can be developed through (non)violent civil resistance, was significant as well, particularly at the early phase of the democratization process. The application to the 2011 Arab Uprising cases (Tunisia and Egypt) that focused on TJ adoption and the role of CS revealed consistent conclusions as well. Although there are several limitations to this study, I attempted to reveal the importance of the linkages among steps to democratization and increase understanding of the “process” rather than simply the “cause” or “result.” In addition, the findings can be implemented in policies for proliferating democracy by supporting/encouraging democratization from the ground up (i.e., below), CS growth, and TJ adoption after transition.

Magister Legum - LLM

Post conflict justice is a concept that has in the last two decades gained notoriety and support across the world. The commitment by states to fight impunity by embracing accountability measures has increasingly gained support. This however, was not always the case. Before the 1980s the approach by most of the world was to turn a blind eye to serious violations committed during wars, insurgencies and serious conflict. This was done in the name of respecting state sovereignty, where other states were required to respect the conflict state by not intervening irrespective of egregious violations being committed to mankind. The tide eventually changed and many states have adopted numerous instruments as a sign of their commitment to fight impunity and bring accountability to the perpetrators of serious conflict. African states embraced this development, in 1998 during the Rome conference where the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court was adopted. African states participated in large numbers during the negotiations. Subsequently, African states signed and adopted the Statute overwhelmingly. To date, 33 African States have ratified the Rome Statute making Africa the most represented region in the Rome Statute system. With Africa's share of countless conflicts, where serious human rights violations have been violated, post conflict justice is increasingly a reality in Africa. The application of post conflict justice is an emerging and ever evolving field in Africa. The implementation of post conflict justice has been the center of contested debates. These debates have in the recent past become more pronounced especially where international intervention has been applied in assisting African post conflict societies to deal with the past and bring accountability. The impact that the accountability mechanisms play in restoring a post conflict society has been overshadowed by these debates. This study therefore seeks to provide a balanced discussion on the role that the accountability mechanisms can play in African post conflict societies. The study gives an overview of the evolution of post conflict justice and also looks into the different post conflict justice approaches adopted by African countries and their potential role in accountability and societal healing. The empirical cases of South Africa and Kenya are analysed in the study as practical examples of the application of post conflict justice approaches. The impact of the accountability mechanisms adopted is also discussed. The unique role that the African Union plays in fighting impunity in the continent is also discussed and the impact of positions taken by the continental body on accountability in post conflict countries is analysed. In the end the study seeks to establish the growing pattern in Africa in dealing with post conflict situations and recommendations are made in the final chapter on how to improve the general approach by Africa to eradicate the culture of impunity for serious crimes committed in the continent.

Truth commissions are bodies established in political transition, and they have the stated purpose of reckoning with human rights abuses committed by members of former regimes. The question driving this research is "Why have truth commissions increased so rapidly in the last 20 years?" This study moves beyond current research, which suggests that particular domestic political circumstances alone determine choice of transitional justice mechanisms. I argue that an international rule of behavior, the transitional restorative norm, has emerged and spread to decision-makers in countries of transition. In support of this notion, I perform a pre-theoretical historical analysis of transitional justice and develop a theory of decision-making in transition-which is later tested with quantitative statistics. This integrated approach allows for increased scientific rigor in the examination of international norms. Ultimately, the study demonstrates an interrelationship between shared ideas and political environments in the determination of domestic policy.

A pesquisa tem dois objetivos centrais: reconstruir o desenvolvimento da justiça de transição no Brasil até os dias atuais e identificar algumas das principais razões dos limites de sua implementação no país. Conforme as principais hipóteses, os limites da experiência da justiça transicional no Brasil estão associados a um discurso sobre a redemocratização no país, discurso este que tem a conciliação nacional como sua principal categoria. A primeira hipótese da pesquisa é a de que o discurso da conciliação nacional, veiculado pelo menos desde a elaboração do projeto de anistia pelo governo Figueiredo, continuaria a ser um dos principais limites ao desenvolvimento da justiça de transição no Brasil. Mas a segunda hipótese sustenta que, dos últimos trabalhos mais aprofundados sobre o tema para cá, este discurso teria sua hegemonia contestada de forma significativa, sendo obrigado a ceder a algumas das demandas de entidades da sociedade civil que até pouco tempo atrás não eram consideradas como negociáveis. Os objetivos e hipóteses centrais da tese serão mobilizados na seguinte estrutura. Capítulo 1: teoria e crítica dos parâmetros normativos da justiça de transição. Capítulo 2: reconstituição histórica e discursiva sobre a anistia e sobre o programa brasileiro de reparações. Capítulo 3: reconstituição discursiva e crítica sobre o julgamento do STF acerca da constitucionalidade da bilateralidade da anistia e sobre o estágio das ações penais movidas pelo Ministério Público Federal. Capítulo 4: reconstituição crítica dos trabalhos da Comissão Nacional da Verdade. / The research has two main objectives: to reconstruct the development of transitional justice in Brazil until today and to identify some of the main reasons underlying the limits of its implementation in the country. According to our main hypotheses, the limits of transitional justice in Brazil are associated with a discourse on the countrys democratization, which holds \"national reconciliation\" as its crucial category. The hypothesis 1 of the research asserts that the discourse of \"national reconciliation\", elaborated at least since the project of amnesty by the Figueiredo government, remains one of the main limitations to the development of transitional justice in Brazil. But the hypothesis 2 maintains that from the last major works on the subject to today, the hegemony of this discourse has been significantly challenged, giving some room to historical claims of civil society that until recently were not considered negotiable. The objectives and main hypotheses will be developed in the following structure. Chapter 1: theory and critique of the normative parameters of transitional justice. Chapter 2: historical and discursive reconstitution of the amnesty and of the Brazilian program of reparation. Chapter 3: discursive reconstitution and critique of the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court on the amnestys constitutionality and the stage of criminal cases filed by federal prosecutors. Chapter 4: critical reconstitution of the work of the National Truth Commission.

No description available.

"This dissertation seeks firstly to re-examine the merits of the competing philosophies on the role of amnesties in transitional justice. It seeks in particular to investigate the currently popular notion that justice is necessarily retributive and even beyond that, to determine the veracity of the claim that prosecution represents a necessary element of retributivist justice. The objective is to contribute to the ongoing debate by examining and drawing practical lessons from the case of South Africa, which emerged in 1994 from several generations of institutionalised gross violatoins of human rights. Accordingly the Amnesty Committee of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the law and the political philosophy undergirding its functions represent the focus of this study. ... This dissertation unfolds into five parts. Chapter 1, as an introduction to the rest of the work, sets out the relevance of the subject under review, the methodology and a brief overview of the chapters. Chapter two reviews the extensive literature on transitional justice and discusses the concepts that may be distilled therefrom. It discusses the contextual determinants of models of transitional justice and sets out the essence of the debate between vengeance and forgiveness as tools for achieving transitional justice. It also discusses the development of international law with respect to the permissiveness of amnesties and both the articulated and other justifications for their use. The burden of the third chapter is to first recount the factual circumstances of South Africa's trnsition and the factors that predicated the promulgation of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995. It then briefly examines the provisions of the statute and it's implementation. It also engages in an empirical assessment of the almost 800 amnesties granted and employs a number of indices to determine whteher the process was even handed and achieved its objectives. These indices are: the politicl affiliations of the awardees; whether or not the crimes for which they received amnesty involved the loss of life; whether or not they had already been punished for thier transgressions and; whether or not they received forgiveness from the vicitms - actual or constructive. Chapter four focuses on some fo the criticisms that the TRC received. It assesses their merits and determines to what extent they subverted the quest for justice in transitional South Africa. In particular it looks at the reasoning of the Constitutional Court in the AZAPO Case, the alleged lack of objectivity of the TRC, its almost exclusively Christian orientation and its almost exclusive focus on abuses of civil and political rights. Chapter five concludes the dissertation by first determining whether or not there are any lessons to be learnt from South Africa's amnesty experience. It then outlines what the lessons are or should be. It closes by making recommendations as to what factors or particular considerations should guide the efforts and aspirations of abused societies that embark on the quest for transitional justice." -- Chapter 1. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Frans Viljoen, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2001. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The dissertation examines transitional justice mechanisms implemented in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. The question of how to deal with the legacies of communist repression has been an important source of political divisions in the region. The post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe had an array of choices to consider when addressing demands for retrospective justice: from criminal prosecution of important officials, to restitution of property, or declassifying of secret files for public inspection. The two most common paths taken in the region have consisted of lustration laws and the decisions surrounding public access to secret police files. Lustration laws involve the disqualification of certain categories of former communist officials and secret police collaborators from public positions under the new regime. The dissertation explores differences in lustration laws and access to secret files across four cases that represent variation along a spectrum of outcomes: the Czech Republic having the strongest type of lustration, Poland and Hungary having a weaker form, and Romania lacking institutionalized lustration. The extant literature has focused on instances where such laws have been instituted, but has little to say about cases where it failed. The dissertation pays special attention to the case of Romania, with the goal of explaining its failure to enact lustration in spite of repeated attempts. The analysis is organized in two main sections. The first evaluates the existing patterns of lustration in the region. The second offers an in-depth analysis of the understudied case of Romania with the intent of filling the vacant niche in the existing literature. Primary sources examined include the proposed projects of lustration laws, the final drafts of laws, parliamentary debates and media reports on the issue. The dissertation concludes that differences in lustration patterns can be fully explained only by simultaneously considering the impact of several factors: the pervasiveness of security apparatus during the last phase of communist rule, the type of regime change, and the extent to which political actors embraced the lustration agenda.

Magister Legum - LLM / This mini-thesis makes a claim that when Rwanda established the rule of Gacaca court system as a communal mechanism of transitional justice in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, it accordingly enabled space for the ‘social truth’ to take centre stage as opposed to the legal truth. As such, testimonies by perpetrators and accounts by witnesses could only be permissible in Gacaca courts if they were socially acceptable by the community, and any evidence only needed to be orally validated by community members but not verified through formal legal procedures. The principal objective of this mini-thesis, therefore, is to examine how the ‘social truth’ was employed by Gacaca courts and how this kind of truth resonated with the communal nature of the courts.