The horizontal and vertical expansions of transitional justice: Explanations and implications for a contested field

The field of transitional justice has expanded significantly in recent years. Transitional justice is no longer exclusively, or even predominantly, discussed as a matter of whether and how the state ought to deploy various tools aimed at promoting accountability, truth and victims’ redress in the context of dealing with human rights violations committed by a prior authoritarian regime. For example, debates about transitional justice now take place in contexts where there has been no regime change, and the state is no longer perceived the only actor relevant for deciding and implementing transitional justice solutions. This paper addresses this proliferation of transitional justice discourses by identifying a number of expansions of the field, either at a horizontal or vertical level. The main feature of the horizontal expansion concerns the increased prevalence of justice tools, conceptualized as transitional justice, in a wide range of cases that are not primarily, or at all, characterized by a liberalizing political transition. The main feature of the vertical expansion involves the prevalence of justice tools beyond the state level, including an internationalization of transitional justice as well as community level responses to abuses and injustices.

Thomas Obel Hansen holds a PhD in international law from Aarhus University Law School in Denmark, where he specialized in transitional justice and international criminal law. Thomas has published various journal articles and book chapters that examine the role of law in dealing with gross human rights violations; the interplay between justice, politics and peace; international criminal law; constitutional reform; and various human rights issues. His work focuses on theory development as well as case studies, especially of transitional justice in East and Central Africa. Thomas has lectured various university courses in the fields of human rights, international law and transitional justice as well as he has made a number of paper presentations at international conferences around the world. Further, he has worked as a consultant for organizations such as Open Society Justice Initiative and the International Center for Transitional Justice.