The nexus between national dialogue and transitional justice

Court officer of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal speaks with students during a public forum in Phnom Penh | Photo © picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS | Heng Sinith

A new paper explores the interlinkages between national dialogue and transitional justice and discusses how both processes can be further integrated in practice.

Over the last two decades, national dialogues have been increasingly recognised as a comprehensive tool for preventing violent conflicts and reaching inclusive political settlements. Similarly, transitional justice has been widely accepted as an important if not necessary approach to deal with experiences of large-scale human rights violations, contribute to reconciliation, foster the rule of law, and prevent recurrent cycles of violence. However, questions remain on how to best integrate both processes. This paper aims to address this gap by exploring the conceptual linkage between national dialogue and transitional justice and discussing the potential and challenges of further integrating both processes to enhance their relevance and effectiveness.