Dispensing justice in times of war and armed conflict, be they interstate aggression or civil war among territorial populations, represents a considerable challenge.
How can we maintain access to justice and the essential missions of the public justice service in a territory that is under fire from bombs? How can we go out into the field to meet the victims, who are often refugees in other countries, to gather their testimonies and document the abuses committed? How do the various players involved – judges, investigators, NGOs, legal experts – work to help combat impunity and prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity? What collective or individual reparations can be made to victims?
Recent conflicts, whether in Ukraine, Colombia or the Central African Republic, show that increasingly, delivering justice requires the coordination of different levels of investigation: at the national level, at the regional level, and at the international level (International Criminal Court, special tribunals such as those set up in Rwanda, Kosovo, Cambodia, etc.).
Furthermore, the courts rule in real time, and not after the end of a conflict, which raises the question of their impartiality and the effectiveness of the rights to be guaranteed to those prosecuted.
How can we ensure that the justice delivered by these courts is not perceived as that of the victors? In countries that have experienced civil war, and where the challenges of reintegrating convicts into the community are also crucial to ensuring the conditions for a return to peace, does transitional justice have a particular role to play?
This Rendez-vous de l’Expertise brought together magistrates, jurists, lawyers and NGOs. Faced with these challenges, they shared with us their day-to-day experiences, the difficulties they encounter in carrying out their missions, their needs, their hopes, and the way in which each of them, at his or her own level, works to ensure that justice is done.
