Truth Commissions and Criminal Courts

A multi-level analysis of truth commissions and courts in the ICC era.

Alison Bisset (Author)

9781107008038, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 April 2012

232 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.4 cm, 0.5 kg

'Alison Bisset's monograph provides a well-crafted analysis of the relationship between two dominant bodies present within a diverse blueprint of transitional justice, namely, prosecutions through courts, operating alongside proceedings before truth commissions. … This is a well-written and optimistic account, with a firm grasp of procedural detail posing necessary questions within a pluralistic vision of the transitional justice ideal. It speaks more keenly to a policymaker and practitioner audience, but would also be of interest to those graduate students studying international criminal justice or transitional justice, more widely.' Birju Kotecha, Journal of International Criminal Justice

This detailed evaluation of the relationship between trials and truth commissions challenges their assumed compatibility through an analysis of their operational features at national, inter-state and international levels. Alison Bisset conducts case-study analyses of national practice in South Africa, East Timor and Sierra Leone, evaluates the problems posed by the International Criminal Court and considers the challenges presented by the possibility of bystander state prosecutions. At each level, she highlights potential operational conflicts and formulates targeted proposals to enable effective coexistence.

1. Truth commissions and trials within the transitional justice framework
2. Truth commissions and international jurisdiction to prosecute
3. Coordinating truth commissions and trials at the national level
4. Coordinating truth commissions and ICC operations
5. Coordinating truth commissions and prosecutions in bystander states
6. Conclusion: coordinating truth commissions and trials in the ICC era.

Subject Areas: Criminal law & procedure [LNF], Public international law [LBB], Law [L], Human rights [JPVH]