CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE

Transitional justice has been increasingly popular in recent years as a way of dealing with past wrongdoings and restitution. Because of the contradiction between retributive and restorative justice, its techniques have made a distinct contribution to the cultures in which they have been applied. Trials (as a retributive form) and truth commissions, amnesties, and reparations (as a restorative form) are subject to a variety of issues and critiques, both theoretically and practically. Transitional justice must be realistic, which means learning from all experiences and improving work on education, financing, planning, and evaluation of processes; contributing to social and political change; and spreading the word about what is being done. When possible, different mechanisms should be combined to achieve better results.