Transitional justice explores and evaluates how victims, communities, combatants and societies can overcome conflict, authoritarianism, colonialism, or structural violence and move towards more peaceful, democratic, equitable, and human rights compliant futures. The Law School at Queen’s University Belfast has longstanding expertise in the field, and today hosts a vibrant community of transitional justice academics and doctoral researchers. Research within this grouping, has of course been inspired by and continues to contribute to efforts to deal with the legacy of past violence in and about Northern Ireland. Through this research, the School has sought to share theoretical insights and practical lessons from the experiences of the NI peace process with international audiences and to use theoretical knowledge and empirical findings from other contexts to inform local efforts to deal with the past. Transitional justice researchers within the school also engage in empirical research in transitional societies in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East as well as seeking to use transitional justice theory to inform approaches to other forms of historical abuse or contemporary global challenges, notably climate change.

Transitional justice is a rich interdisciplinary field, and our research within the School also covers a rich range of thematic areas and topics. You can learn more about the interests and expertise of our members here. and see a sample of our publications here.