Jeremy Sarkin

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• LLD
• Distinguished Research Professor of Law at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa

Both restorative and transitional justice have increasingly been applied in transitional settings to overcome the insufficient role that criminal trials have played. Using restorative justice was supposedly incorporated into the International Criminal Court (ICC) processes to overcome the so-called justice versus peace dilemma, that is, the choice...

Gender-based violence (GBV) is widespread globally and is based on social roles. These social roles represent society’s expectations of men and women carrying out stereotyped functions and behaviours. These gendered social expectations vary across culture, space and time. Drawing from an empirical study in Israel and building on the previous litera...

In 2020, the Israeli Supreme Court held section 4 of the Law on Prevention of Infiltration and Ensuring the Departure of Infiltrators from Israel, also known as the Deposit Law, to be unconstitutional. Among other provisions, that law required 36 per cent of the wages of foreign workers to be paid into a dedicated account and returned when the pers...

This article compares the European Union’s (EU) reception and resettlement of European and non-European refugees and asylum seekers from an intersectional viewpoint. It does so using data collected during fieldwork in Greece focusing on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). The goal is to examine, through an empirical and theoretical study,...

African Americans have been marginalised, discriminated against, and excluded from American society for centuries. First as slaves, but later when they gained emancipation, they remained relegated, differentiated, and discounted, in a range of areas, including in the political and economic spheres. Music has been a means to promote their greater in...

Drawing on fieldwork in Greece, Uganda, and Israel, this empirical study is an enquiry into the forms of agency adopted by refugee and asylum-seeking women who are survivors of, or in situations of risk of, sexual and gender-based violence. The article identifies the main agentic behaviors reported by participants to prevent and address multiple an...

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been widely recognized as one of the most significant threats to peace and security in Europe since World War II. The large scale proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles in this conflict reveals how drones and autonomous weapons systems are transforming warfare. At the same time, they are raising concer...

Drawing from fieldwork carried out in Uganda, this empirical study is an enquiry into women’s resilience in the face of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the country. It asks why, and when, refugee and asylum-seeking women decide to report (or not report) SGBV. It also enquires into the issues that determine when they do so. The article sh...

The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court ( icc ) in March 2023 against Russian President Vladimir Putin for crimes committed in Ukraine is one of the most momentous cases taken up by the Court. As Putin is unlikely to be arrested in Russia, the only way that he may be arrested and surrendered to the Court is if he travels to an...

This article deals with missing persons in Azerbaijan. The issue of missing persons occurred because of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno- Karabakh region. About 5,000 people from all sides were reported as having gone missing by 2020. This article firstly contextualises the democratic and human rights situation in Azerba...

This article deals with the issues associated with missing persons in Georgia, which are deeply interrelated with the conflicts over the disputed territories of Abkhazia since 1992 and South Ossetia from 1991. The article examines the historical, democratic, and human rights context of these issues in Georgia to understand the situation in the coun...

This article deals with missing persons in Armenia. So far around 5,000 people from all sides in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have been reported as having gone missing. This article contextualises the democratic and human rights situation in Armenia and argues that if progress is to occur, there needs to be a coordinating mechanism involving all c...

This article introduces the Special Section dealing with conflict related missing persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. It examines the context to the conflicts in the region and brings to the fore the fact that the breakup of the Soviet Union has had a massive legacy in terms of the conflicts it spawned, over identity matters and various te...

This empirical socio-legal cross-cultural study conducted in Greece, Israel, and Uganda focuses on why the international law norm of the responsibility to protect (R2P) ought to be applied to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) matters in the country of asylum. This is because states have a responsibility to protect those who are vulnerable to...

Purpose This paper argues that intersectionality ought to be a vital tool to identify and recognise those who are refugees. It provides a useful way to distinguish refugees from migrants as well as making it possible to screen for asylum seekers who are at greater risk of experiencing specific vulnerable situations, such as sexual and gender-based...

Deals with South Africa’s Changing Positions on International Criminal Justice and Why the Country Wanted to Withdraw From the ICC and Why It May Remain in the ICC For the Time Being

Examines the Creation of National Mechanisms for (Implementation) Reporting and Follow-Up (NMRF/ NMIRF)

Examines the Theory and Practice of Transitional Justice and Argues that TJ Needs to be Better Integrated in All Places Around the World

This article aims to explain and review the theoretical and normative contexts of Transitional Justice (TJ). This is done as empirical studies or specific settings particularly in the Arab region need to be rooted much more in TJ theory. The article argues that data and statistics need to be used and evaluated and that there needs to be greater use...

This article explains why the Systematic State Practice of Enforced Disappearance of Children Are Often Instances of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: Strategies for Preventing Future Occurrences And Solving Past Cases”

This Article aims to identify the role gender and specifically women's issues play within truth commissions, and how this influences truth-seeking processes within transitional justice frameworks. It seeks to understand how truth commissions can be gender-sensitive in their work and how outcomes for women can be enhanced. The Article further seeks...

The article aims to achieve a Greater Understanding of Guarantees of Non-Repetition (GNR) or Non-Recurrence of Human Rights Violations and How GNR Intersects Transitional Justice with Processes of Democratic Governance, State Rebuilding, Reconciliation, Nation Building, and Peace Building”

The article deals with the Activation of the Crime of Aggression at the International Criminal Court: Its Progress and Pitfalls

The world has experienced numerous armed conflicts and violations of human rights arising from conflicts. However, many millions of human rights abuses have occurred outside of conflict. These have been on the rise over the last fifteen years. This article enquires why the International Court of Justice (icj) has not played the role it could have o...

The Oxford Handbook on Atrocity Crimes consolidates and further develops the evolving field of atrocity studies by combining major mono-, inter-, and multidisciplinary research on atrocity crimes in one volume encompassing contributions of leading scholars. Atrocity crimes—war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide—are manifestations of larg...

This chapter focuses on the, so far neglected, role of truth commissions in amnesty processes. It first examines what amnesties and truth commissions are and explores how past amnesties affect the work of truth commissions in various countries. Subsequently, it discusses the amnesty process in South Africa, as the South African truth commission has...

Too little is provided, not only in international law, but also by the United Nations, for victims around the world. This article therefore argues that a new paradigm is needed. It uses the conflict in Syria since 2011, specifically focusing on how enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions have been used, to examine these questions. It has b...

This book explores, through the lens of the conflict in Syria, why international law and the United Nations have failed to halt conflict and massive human rights violations in many places around the world which has allowed tens of millions of people to be killed and hundreds of millions more to be harmed. The work presents a critical socio-legal a...

The International Criminal Court is a very controversial institution. It is extensively criticised by both its critics and its supporters. This article examines what steps have been taken to reform the Court. It considers issues such as the need for better communications and messaging by the Court. The paper takes up how and why the Court needs to...

This article argues that while the right to the truth has come to the fore over the last few decades, victims around the world have not really felt its practical effect. It is argued that for the right to have real impact, human rights violations need to be documented and investigated, and the victims identified. This has, however, been limited in...

This article examines why the South African Government decided to withdraw from the Rome Statute for the ICC in 2016. South Africa’s history with international law and international justice are examined to indicate how these matters over time reflect South Africa’s political history and political developments. The next section of the article examin...

This article reflects concerns about what may emerge from the United Nations human rights treaty body (TB) review process that began in April 2020. The fear specifically is what the outcome of that review may be and whether the goal of strengthening and/or streamlining TBs will actually result in a less robust state oversight and human rights compl...

This book explores a range of issues related to the development, application and enforcement of international criminal justice within Africa and on Africa. Written by experts from Africa, and adopting African perspectives, this book seeks to understand the scope and reach of these issues, nationally, regionally and globally. Africa's Role and Contr...

This book explores a range of issues related to the development, application and enforcement of international criminal justice within Africa and on Africa. Written by experts from Africa, and adopting African perspectives, this book seeks to understand the scope and reach of these issues, nationally, regionally and globally. Africa's Role and Contr...

This article examines the issue of state cooperation with the International Criminal Court ( icc ), and why it is vitally needed to achieve the institution’s mandate, including that of human rights protection. The article examines why state cooperation with the icc is so important and what issues undermine it, including disputes with the African Un...

Over five decades and with dozens of examples of truth commissions to look back on, an undeniable aspect of their legacy is that the world has become far more focused on dealing with the past and uncovering the truth about past atrocities. While there is typically a focus in the literature on the more widely publicized and famous truth commissions,...

This article reviews domestic human rights institutions called Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-Up (NMRFs). The article scrutinizes how important state reporting on human rights has become, and then evaluates what NMRFs are, and what the different models of NRMFs are. The article focuses on the nations of Georgia and Portugal.

This article explores the role of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the role it plays regarding human rights in individual country situations in Africa. It specifically examines the extent to which it has been able to advance a human rights agenda in countries with long-standing human rights problems. The article uses Swazilan...

This article examines the connection between groups and disappearances. It argues that often those targeted for disappearance are from a group, particularly minority or indigenous groups of some description. However, the person’s group identity is not always clear, because while it might be obvious to the families and the group being targeted, it i...

This article reviews R2P from the point of its rebirth, or renaissance, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, and its alleged move to becoming a global norm. It focuses on the question of why it is only used in relatively few places around the world to stop or prevent mass human rights abuses. This is not to argue that R2P is not used - it...

This article examines issues concerning the scope and role of victimology specifically as far as they relate to missing and disappeared persons. It argues that victimology ought to have a greater effect on the world by dealing with more victims, and that it should not be a solely academic discipline. It is contended that victimology should confront...

The Global Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions - edited by Jeremy Sarkin May 2019

The Global Impact and Legacy of Truth Commissions - edited by Jeremy Sarkin May 2019

This article argues that two new definitions are needed for what constitutes a truth commission. The first new definition that is needed is a different backward-looking definition that is used reflectively to contrast, compare and research past and present truth commissions. It is argued that the variety of definitions that exist about what constit...

This article explores the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in the post-Libya era to determine whether it is now an accepted norm of international law. It examines what RtoP means in today`s world and whether the norm now means that steps will be taken against states that are committing serious human rights violations. The building blocks of RtoP ar...

This article examines how effective the African Union (AU) has been in pushing states to be more democratic in nature and to respect, protect, fulfil and promote the human rights of their inhabitants. It reviews the political role of the AU in this regard using the situation in Swaziland to do so. The article also examines Swaziland at the United N...

This article argues that until there are adequate processes in states around the world to accurately know the circumstances concerning discrimination and violence against women (VAW), and that until states are held accountable to deal with those circumstances, little will change to deal with the extensive problems that exist around the world. Due d...

This article explores how conditional amnesties can assist post-conflict societies to recover truth. It examines how such amnesties can be used optimally to achieve the best results as part of transitional justice mechanisms. Thus, a central question is to see how amnesties can be used for truth recovery purposes. For that reason, the status and ro...

The world is in a migration crisis. Thousands of people are dying annually trying to get across the Mediterranean. However, this is not a problem unique to Europe. It has remained a hidden global problem for a long time. What is specifically unknown are the numbers of people who have gone missing while migrating. This article therefore focuses on s...

This article examines the ways in which missing persons have been dealt with, mainly in the former Yugoslavia, to show how the huge advances made in the search for, recovery and identification of those who disappeared is positively impacting on the ability of families to find their loved ones. The article surveys the advances made in dealing with t...

Certain truth and reconciliation processes around the world remain understudied. This means that valuable lessons for transitional justice processes elsewhere are not learned. This article therefore examines lessons from the Togolese Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (CVJR). It examines the historical context of violence in Togo in orde...

This article examines the role played by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal and why it was decimated between 2010 and 2012, when its individual and group complaint procedures were removed to make it into a body that can only hear state complaints. This is not only a human rights matter as the SADC tribunal also allowed those...

Transitional justice's normative foundations, orientation, and methodology favour a backward-looking focus in dealing with the legacy of violence in societies. This article suggests that transitional justice (tj) can be more effective if it broadens its scope to include processes and measures to engage with present day conflict, and human rights an...

This book explores conceptual and operational questions regarding the development and implementation of the Responsibility to Protect. The mass atrocity norm known as the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has enjoyed meteoric success since the concept was introduced in 2001. But perhaps precisely because of how quickly the concept secured its privil...

This article examines transitional justice issues within a rule of law context generally, and in Uganda. The article discusses what violations occurred in Uganda, and what the interrelationship, and interconnectedness, of transitional justice is to the rule of law in the country. The article argues that while prosecutions are not favoured in Uganda...

This article, using the metaphor of a motor vehicle road trip, explores South Africa’s much-lauded and deftly exported transitional experiment. It explores how the journey, and process of reconciliation, was a prominent feature of the post-1994 transition. It is argued that the journey did not begin in 1994. It began way before. While the main jour...

Dealing with past human rights violations has become a common feature of societies that emerge from an atrocious past characterised by massive contraventions of human rights. Establishing a comprehensive version of the past is progressively being seen as vital, including dealing with issues of justice, truth, reconciliation, reparations and guarant...

The shift at the United Nations (U.N.) from the much criticized Human Rights Commission to the Human Rights Council in 2006 has supposedly brought new opportunities to affect the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. One of the major developments has been the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process to revi...

This article explores the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) in the post-Libya era to determine whether it is now an accepted norm of international law. It examines what RtoP means in today’s world and whether the norm now means that steps will be taken against states that are committing serious human rights violations. The building blocks of RtoP ar...

For marginalized and victimized people around the world, international law affecting them has grown enormously over the last few years. In theory, it provides for the protection of their rights and recourse or redress for wrongs committed against them. The framework of international law has grown significantly over time, and traditional persuasions...

This chapter explores the needs of child victims. It explores specifically their needs for reintegration and rehabilitation linked to processes of reconciliation. It does not focus, however, on dealing with children or others as perpetrators of violence. Obviously, dealing with perpetrators, including those who are children, and finding ways of end...

This article examines the roles played by the international community and the media in cases of genocide and other gross human rights violations. It explores the motivations behind the international community’s decisions to intervene or refrain from intervening in cases of mass atrocities. It analyzes the correlation between lack of media coverage...

It is the three developed regional arrangements, in Africa, the Americas and Europe (but only the system under the Council of Europe and not the other European systems) that will be the central focus of this article. The lessons that the African Commission and the about to be formed African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) can gather from...

This article reviews the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and argues that, beyond that of retributive justice, the court ought to be playing a much greater deterrent role. It is argued that the ICC ought to do this by integrating restorative justice or transitional justice approaches into its work. If this is done the ICC could have a...

This article examines the role that the International Criminal Court (ICC) can play in Africa, especially concerning enforced disappearances. The role of the Court on the continent is controversial, partly because the Court only adjudicates cases from Africa. The argument presented in this article is that the ICC has a role beyond prosecutions and...

This Article addresses the issues and problems relating to caste from varying disciplinary perspectives, including from a human rights perspective in India. It examines the sociological context of caste to develop an understanding of the practice and its origins.This Article also assesses the particular impact of caste on the lives of the lower cla...

This Article investigates the claim that Botswana is the Miracle of Africa in the context of its political, economic, and human rights record. It contextualizes the arguments and findings that scholars make today about Botswana‘s success in achieving economic prosperity, political stability, and sustained growth. The Article compares these accounts...

This article looks at the situation in Iraq and why reconciliation is so difficult achieve. It examines Iraq’s history, including the role of the British, the Sunni/Shiite divide, and issues during Saddam Hussein’s rule, including Baathism, against a current day context to establish some of the complexities and problems that underlie reconciliation...

This article examines the question whether jus cogens includes the prohibition of enforced disappearances, and why this is important. It surveys the meaning, context, development, status and position of jus cogens as well as enforced disappearance in international law, including their relationship to each other. It surveys the status of enforced di...

This article focuses on two regional human rights systems — the system that exists in Africa and the mechanism that exists within the Council of Europe. It examines the development and specifics of each system to determine what lessons the African Commission and the future African Court of Justice and Human Rights can learn from the European model...

This article explores why the “right to work” remains underdeveloped through an analysis of its theoretical origins and developmental path. First, the article explores specific content of the right to work, as well as the international legal instruments that generate that content. Second, the article examines the development of the right over time,...

This essay investigates the connection between humanitarian intervention and R2P within an historical, legal, and conceptual context. It challenges the widely held view that Africa lacks the capacity to intervene in areas of conflict and human rights violations, arguing instead that the continent possesses the will and instruments to protect human...

The introduction sketches the recent development of the 'responsibility to protect' norm and emphasises its African roots, both in terms of its conceptualisation and implementation and with particular respect to two tragedies—the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the crisis in Darfur since 2003—that have lent urgency to the norm's formulation and wide...