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Vol. 41, Nº 78 (2023), 16-24
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Transitional justice model
implementation’s mechanisms’
characteristics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4178.00
Victor Filatov *
Abstract
Way of implementing transitional justice into national
contexts is the parallel implementation of four conict de-
escalation strategies consisting of truth-seeking, judicial
processes, reparations programs and institutional reforms. In
this sense, the objective of this editorial is twofold, on the one
hand, to present volume 41, number 78 of Political Questions
and, on the other, to practical aspects of the transitional justice
model implementation. The author substantiates that the
process of transitional justice implementing is endowed with a
certain ideological component serving the purpose of transitional justice
implementing. The authors concept denition of “transitional justice model
implementation” was proposed. It is noted that the mixed implementation
mechanism of the studied model, combining domestic and international
eorts in the eld of peace building is the most acceptable for Ukraine.
The author draws attention to the interdependence of the national context
and the relevant mechanisms for the transitional justice implementation.
The author concludes that implementation mechanisms are determined
depending on the exigencies of the post-conict society.
Key words: implementation, international legal standards, directions
and principles, post-conict development, transitional
justice, social shock, Ukrainian context.
* Victor Filatov, candidate of legal sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the Department
of Public and Private Law, University of Customs and Finance, Dnipro, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://
оrcid.org/0000-0002-8059-3736. E-mail: latov_viktor@ukr.net
17
CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 41 Nº 78 (2023): 16-24
Características de los mecanismos de implementación
del modelo de justicia transicional
Resumen
La forma de implementar la justicia transicional en los contextos
nacionales es la implementación paralela de cuatro estrategias de reducción
de conictos que consisten en búsqueda de la verdad, procesos judiciales,
programas de reparación y reformas institucionales. En este sentido, el
objetivo de este editorial es doble, por un lado, presentar el volumen 41,
número 78 de Cuestiones Políticas y, por otro, los aspectos prácticos de la
implementación del modelo de justicia transicional. El autor fundamenta
que el proceso de implementación de la justicia transicional está dotado de
cierto componente ideológico al servicio del propósito de la implementación
de la justicia transicional. Se propuso la denición del concepto de los
autores de “implementación del modelo de justicia transicional”. Se
observa que el mecanismo de implementación mixto del modelo estudiado,
que combina los esfuerzos nacionales e internacionales en el campo de la
consolidación de la paz, es el más aceptable para Ucrania. El autor llama la
atención sobre la interdependencia del contexto nacional y los mecanismos
relevantes para la implementación de la justicia transicional. Concluye
que los mecanismos de implementación se determinan en función de las
exigencias de la sociedad posconicto.
Palabras clave: implementación, estándares legales internacionales,
direcciones y principios, desarrollo posconicto, justicia
transicional, choque social, contexto ucraniano.
Exordium
The issue of the transitional justice model implementation in the foreign
scientists’ papers has been investigated rather fragmentarily. In particular,
the legal aspects of this process, as well as certain procedural issues, are
not detailed. In our opinion, this is related to the impossibility of making
a universal implementation mechanism that should be determined by
the national context. Antonio Cassese notes that the transitional justice
implementation scope is wider than the scope of international criminal
law, which is considered as a form of criminal justice implementation along
with other extrajudicial measures. The latter cover the restorative aspect
not only from a legal point of view, but also from a political, social and
economic perspective. Therefore, the transitional justice implementation
represents the international community requirements’ justication for
the fulllment by states of their international obligations. Practice shows
that the implementation process is inuenced by the political settlement
Victor Filatov
Presentación
18
aim. That is, there is an exchange of justice for political stability and peace,
which can lead to the new conict emergence (Cassese, 2005).
In our opinion, this thesis limits the implementation process and reduces
it to fullling of political obligations by states. This does not correspond
to the realities of the post-conict development within which the key role
is assigned not to international but to national actors. The latter should
show political will embodied into clear legal implementation mechanisms.
That is, this process requires the combination of international eorts and
national aspirations to build sustainable peace. Attention should be paid
to the dependence of implementation mechanisms on social and political
factors that can change the vector of justice and stability within the state.
1. The legal nature of the implementation mechanisms
of the transitional justice model
Foreign scientists emphasize that the philosophy of the studied model
implementation consists of separate legal technologies accompanying the
process of social transition. These technologies contribute to the prevention
of grosser human rights violations and also reduce the state’s ability to
commit illegal actions. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the potential
sources of injustice in order to understand the benets and risks during the
development and implementation of transitional justice strategies (Combs,
2018). It should be claried that the implementation process is not only a
complex of legal technologies, because it is necessary to take into account
political and social factors and the ideological component, being ultimately
reected in national legislation. However, it is necessary to agree that the
implementation itself contributes to the improvement of the situation in
the post-conict state. That is, it performs a preventive role consisting in
positioning the key ideas of transitional justice.
At the stage of the transitional justice model implementation, it is
necessary to clearly understand the national context, expected results,
transitional processes dynamics, as well as imagine a set of legal instruments
that will be used at every stage of this process. This requires the use of
regional eorts that take into account all these factors and ensure wider
integration of transitional justice key actors (Ibekwe, 2022). However,
there is an extra regularity: the dependence of implementation mechanisms
on expected results. That is, implementation mechanisms are determined
depending on the exigencies of the post-conict society. It refers to a set of
legal instruments to be used within a specic national context.
However, we also observe mutual dependence that was clearly outlined
by Nina Gulzari in her scientic paper. She believes that the transitional
justice implementation mechanisms signicantly inuence the national
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 41 Nº 78 (2023): 16-24
context in which the relevant strategies will be implemented. This is
stipulated by the fact that transitional processes are intertwined with the
past, which can become an obstacle to the post-conict development. On the
other hand, the implementation process also aects the specic responses
and mechanisms of transitional justice. Therefore, the implementation
process cannot be transferred from one post-conict situation to another,
but should develop in accordance with the social and cultural dynamics of a
particular society. Thus, the contextual approach to the transitional justice
implementation makes it possible to choose renewal mechanisms (Gulzari,
2017).
It is obvious that the transitional justice implementation requires a
strategic approach that is signicant in several ways: rst, it helps shape a
proactive approach by identifying priorities, key audiences, messages and
resources; secondly, it helps coordinate eorts by delimiting responsibilities
and distributing tasks within the transition period (McConnachie, 2004). It
is considered that the implementation process should be preceded by the
national context detailed analysis, taking into account the legal traditions
of specic states. Only under this condition it will be ecient and objective.
In this regard, emphasizes that the transitional justice implementing
process should occur taking into account the legal traditions of the post-
conict states. Domestic legal traditions cover the nature of law and
its implementation in states and are based on the stages of its historical
and cultural development. Taking this into consideration, the congruent
implementation mechanisms, providing for the coordination of post-
conict development directions with legal traditions and the national
context, are of particular importance. Moreover, congruence ensures the
long-term nature of the initiatives and gives hope that the conict will not
repeat in the future. In our opinion, the transitional justice implementation
congruent mechanisms allow ensuring the uniqueness of the corresponding
mechanisms, and, therefore, form the proper perception of international
actors’ eorts by society (Villasmil Espinoza et al., 2022).
The argument in favor of this approach is the following thesis by Rowland
Robin: the transitional justice model implementation can be ineective
if international actors apply a set of universal values, without taking into
account the national context peculiarities. Therefore, it is necessary to
ensure such an implementation process that will help the state make a linear
transition from conict to peace and democracy. It is about the narrative
of the “future” that should dominate at the transitional stage, determining
key changes in the legal system of the post-conict states (Rowland, 2016).
This thesis suggests that the implementation process is also endowed with
a certain ideological component, which at a certain stage serves the purpose
of transitional justice implementing.
Victor Filatov
Presentación
20
The Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations
and Other Enterprises Report dated July 13, 2022 notes that the transitional
justice implementation requires taking certain caveats into account.
In particular, post-conict states should avoid adopting new economic
agreements until they understand how their transition processes will aect
business responsibility. In future, these agreements should be designed in
such a way that they maximally protect the state’s response to transitional
justice and its obligations to victims of conict. In turn, external actors are
also obliged to avoid imposing economic agreements that would undermine
the transitional justice implementation. This means that the transitional
justice implementation requires taking into account certain caveats that are
crucial in view of the further eectiveness of transitional processes. It is
about the actions of international and national actors that can reduce the
transitional strategies eectiveness (Matviichuk et al., 2022).
The implementation of the studied model is important in view of the
necessity to theorize innovative practices of post-conict development.
Transitional justice mechanisms will depend on this, and they can be
either helpful or harmful depending on a number of factors. Thus, there
are certain conditions that favor the success of various transitional justice
mechanisms. Therefore, the implementation process should be timely
and adapted to changing contexts, political attitudes and the environment
(Magara, 2021). The stated thesis shows the dependence of implementation
mechanisms on the time factor aecting the national context, as well as
public opinion.
2. Practical implementation mechanisms
of the transitional justice model
Ahmad Bastomi, basing on a comprehensive analysis, argues that the
main way to implement transitional justice into national contexts is the
parallel implementation of four conict de-escalation strategies consisting
of truth-seeking, judicial processes, reparations programs and institutional
reforms. This method turned out to be not eective enough, because some
of the strategies remain without due attention and do not receive further
development. The reason for this is the excessive external intervention, as
well as the insucient level of the institutions’ independence, involved into
the implementation of the studied model. Among the shortcomings of this
method, it is also worth including the lack of evaluating practice and the
specied strategies revising, taking into account the existing limitations at
each of the stages of transitional justice (Tylchyk et al., 2022).
Thus, the transitional justice model implementation is a set of political
and legal and organizational and legal measures aimed at implementing
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 41 Nº 78 (2023): 16-24
the principles and directions of transitional justice of the post-conict
states into the national legislation that are implemented collectively and
comprehensively within the framework of domestic and international
mechanisms. That is, it is about the purposeful activity of the interested
parties, the purpose of which is the transitional justice model implementation
into the national context of the post-conict state (Leheza et al., 2022).
The domestic mechanism is a set of organizational and legal means and
ways of implementing the transitional justice principles and directions by
means of authorities’ rule-making with mandatory interaction with the
civil society. That is, it is about the transformation of legislation to meet
the needs of the post-conict development in order to resolve the legacy
of the past, search for the truth and form national memory. The intrastate
mechanism involves the use of the generalized historical experience of
states that went through a transitional stage of development in due time.
The international mechanism is a set of political and legal means and
ways of implementing the transitional justice model by integrating post-
conict states’ international legal standards into the national legislation.
That is, this mechanism is the result of the international community’s
eorts to implement the necessary standards of the rule law. Certainly, both
implementation mechanisms are introduced taking into account national
contexts. Thus, the dierence between them is that the domestic mechanism
involves the necessary legal instruments formation at the national level,
and the international mechanism involves the implementation of ready-
made standards contained in the relevant international legal acts (Zhukova
et al., 2023).
Among the signs of the transitional justice model implementation
process, it is worth including: 1) dependence of the process on the national
context; 2) systematic and comprehensive implementation and realization
based on individual concepts; 3) dependence of the process on the time
limits determining the beginning of the transition period; 4) combination
of domestic and international mechanisms; 5) the ability to inuence the
national context by way of formation of transitional institutions; 6) the
ability to have a preventive eect, i.e. prevention of gross violations of
the conict’s victims’ rights; 7) the uniqueness of the methodology of the
process determined by the features of the post-conict development of
individual states; 8) dependence on the legal traditions of states being at
the stage of social transition; 9) dependence on the mandate of national
institutions that will implement the transitional justice strategy; 10)
ability to dynamism, i.e. changes of individual mechanisms depending on
changes in the national context. It should be noted that the mechanisms of
transitional justice implementation can be implemented through separate
strategies or in a complex, that is, in the form of a holistic strategy of social
transition (Kobrusieva et al., 2021).
Victor Filatov
Presentación
22
The implementation of the transitional justice model requires taking
into account certain problems that Ukraine has been currently facing.
These problems are quite successfully systematized in the EU Action Plan
on Human Rights and Democracy (2015). The document emphasizes that
the problem of the implementation of transitional justice institutions
in Ukraine is the protection of crime victims and access to justice. If this
problem is detailed, then its following components can be identied: 1)
lack of institutions providing services in the eld of justice in territories
not controlled by the government; 2) loss of case materials; 3) restriction
of freedom of movement and notication of proceedings; 4) lack of legal
assistance in territories not controlled by the government; 5) lack of
resources; 6) inability to enforce court decisions in temporarily occupied
territories (Filatov et al., 2022). It should be recognized that these problems
are of a systemic nature and have not lost their relevance since 2014.
They have a negative impact on the transitional justice implementation
mechanisms, which must take these factors into account.
The transitional justice model implementation into the national
legislation of Ukraine covers the goals, tasks, principles and forms of
convergence of international and domestic normative legal acts aimed at
the legal regulation of post-conict development. That is, implementation
acts as a legal instrument for the embodiment of the generalized historical
experience of peace building in the national context. In view of this, the goal
of implementation covers the consistent improvement of the quality and
conditions of the society recovery; social and political, cultural and spiritual
spheres of its life development; protecting the rights and freedoms of the
victims of the conict, as well as overcoming the legacy of the past that
caused the conict. The tasks of the transitional justice implementation
are: formation of a single regulatory and legal set of norms regarding post-
conict reconstruction; protection of the interests of the victims of the
conict, society and the state as a whole; ght against systemic violations of
human rights (Kobrusieva et al., 2021).
Conclusions
The process of the transitional justice model implementing is quite
complex and lengthy. It has a number of features and caveats that should be
taken into account to ensure further eectiveness of transition processes.
For Ukraine, the mixed implementation mechanism of the studied model,
combining domestic and international eorts in the eld of peace building,
is the most acceptable. Within the framework of this mechanism, it is
expedient to implement the single Transitional Justice National Strategy
including the implementation of the principles and directions of post-
conict reconstruction. Herewith, it is worth taking into account the impact
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Vol. 41 Nº 78 (2023): 16-24
of the implementation mechanism on the national context and the ability
of the latter to change the trajectory of the implementation process. It
should be noted that the implementation process involves the dominant
role of national actors in the transitional justice implementation. This
prevents excessive interference of international actors in the aairs of the
independent states. However, under certain conditions, the role of the
latter can be strengthened, and is aimed at overcoming the resistance of the
political elites responsible for the conict and continue to inuence public
life.
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Esta revista fue editada en formato digital y publicada
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Vol.41 Nº 78
