Today's state, yesterday's crimes : comparing the rhetorics of restoration and retribution after mass violence

Abstract

Explores two transitional justice mechanisms, the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Analyzes the ways in which the ideal-type philosophical conceptions of retributive and restorative justice are realized in practice during times of transition by examining the rhetoric that emerges from these two mechanisms. I find that comparing the rhetorics of restoration and retribution reveals a set of normative and practical tradeoffs that must be considered when choosing future transitional justice mechanisms.