By Calin Trenkov-Wermuth
United Nations Justice: Legal and Judicial Reform in Governance Operations
United Nations Justice: Legal and Judicial Reform in Governance Operations
By Calin Trenkov-Wermuth
ISBN: 978-92-808-1173-5
304 pages; paper; US$36.00
January 2010
At the end of the 20th century, and at the dawn of the 21st, the United Nations was tasked with the administration of justice in territories placed under its executive authority, an undertaking for which there was no established precedent or doctrine. Examining the UN’s legal and judicial reform efforts in Kosovo and East Timor, this volume argues that rather than helping to establish a sustainable legal system, the UN’s approach detracted from it, as it confused ends with means. In the process, justice standards were sacrificed for the sake of prosecutions; the legal vacuum was not filled effectively; the UN’s desire to create functioning courts exceeded its efforts to deal with detainees; local ownership was erroneously regarded as a means to the end of achieving a sustainable legal system; and the UN’s adoption of rights standards unsuited to the circumstances led it to break its own laws. As a result, instead of easing key tensions at the heart of governance operations, the UN’s approach aggravated them.
Dr. Calin Trenkov-Wermuth offers the first full account of the UN’s endeavours with the administration of justice in governance operations. He also suggests some methods by which these efforts can be improved upon. Relevant audiences include academics and practitioners in multiple disciplines: international law, political science, ethics and applied philosophy, and transitional justice.
Calin Trenkov-Wermuth holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. He has taught politics at Cambridge, and is currently Visiting Fellow at the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris.
Table of contents
Legal and Judicial Reform and the United Nations: Early Practice and Assumptions
- The UN’s early legal and judicial reform effort
- The assumptions about legal and judicial reform
- Application of previously applicable laws
- Implementation of human rights standards within the legal framework
- Establishment of a regular court structure
- Prosecution of past atrocities
- Local participation in the judicial reform process
Introduction to the Case Studies
- Criteria for assessing the sustainability of a legal system
- Fuller’s Principles of Legality
- The judicial norms
- The fundamental human rights standards and principles
- The viability of the legal system in terms of its security-related implications
- Introduction
- Case study guidelines
- Terminology
- Methodology
- Case selection
Kosovo
- Background
- The Kosovo Conflict
- The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
- The Five Elements in Practice
- Concordance of the applicable law with prior legal codes from mission’s beginning
- Completeness of human rights catalogue from mission’s beginning
- Reinstitution of a regular court system from mission’s beginning
- Pursuit of prosecutions for past atrocities from mission’s beginning
- Local participation in the judicial process from mission’s beginning
- Legal and judicial reform developments
- Analysis and discussion
- Adherence to Fuller’s Principles of Legality
- Compliance with basic judicial norms
- The incorporation of human rights principles as part of the legal framework
- The legal and judicial framework and its acceptability within the community
- Legal and judicial reform and its security-related implications
- Conclusion
East Timor
- Background
- The conflict in East Timor
- The five elements in practice
- Concordance of the applicable law with prior legal codes from mission’s beginning
- Completeness of human rights catalogue from mission’s beginning
- Reinstitution of a regular court system from mission’s beginning
- Pursuit of prosecutions for past atrocities from mission’s beginning
- Local participation in the judicial process from mission’s beginning
- Legal and judicial reform developments
- Analysis and discussion
- Adherence to Fuller’s Principles of Legality
- Compliance with basic judicial norms
- The incorporation of human rights principles as part of the legal framework
- The legal and judicial framework and its acceptability within the community
- Legal and judicial reform and its security-related implications
- Conclusion
Legal and judicial reform reconsidered
- Filling the legal vacuum
- Issues raised
- Responses from academics and practitioners, analysis, and discussion
- Human rights in a post-conflict legal context
- Issues raised
- Responses from academics and practitioners, analysis, and discussion
- Establishing an institutional structure
- Issues raised
- Addressing past atrocities and serious crimes
- Issues raised
- Responses from academics and practitioners, analysis, and discussion
- Local actors in the legal and judicial reform process
- Issues raised
- Responses from academics and practitioners, analysis, and discussion
- Conclusion
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Page last modified 2009.09.14.
