Tasked with producing the most innovative work in the field, the ICTJ Research Unit addresses important gaps in scholarship and
provides comparative analysis of transitional justice measures and the
difficult contexts in which they take place to ICTJ staff and to practitioners
worldwide.
The field of transitional justice covers a range of disciplines, including:
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law
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public policy
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forensics
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economics
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history
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psychology
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the arts.
The Research Unit works to develop a rich understanding of the field as a
whole, and to identify issues that merit more in-depth research and analysis.
Collaborating with colleagues around the world, the unit's projects provide
both empirical analysis as well as normative guidance for decision making.
Indeed, one goal of all its projects is to build policymakers' and
practitioners' capacity to confront the difficult choices they will face in
designing measures of redress for mass atrocity.
Policymakers operate in a complex and dynamic environment without access to
perfect information. To make sound judgments that have lasting effects, they
require more than empirical research alone. They
need the tools that only normative research can provide: the identification of
competing priorities and the development of reasoning for making choices among
them.
The Center also produces a range of shorter publications targeted at broader
audiences including practitioners, policymakers, academics, and others engaged
with the field of transitional justice. The ICTJ's Case Studies provide brief descriptions of transitional
justice institutions around the world or an overview of justice initiatives in
a particular country. Occasional Papers
provide in-depth comparative analysis of specific transitional justice
initiatives. See the Publications page for more details and downloadable versions
of these and other documents. Hard copies are available upon email request to info@ictj.org.
(Updated July 2008)
