The UN Security Council and Transitional Justice

The United Nations Security Council is an insufficiently understood source of support for transitional justice interventions on the ground. 

In the best-case scenarios, the Council has assisted national and local endeavors by amplifying the voices of domestic stakeholders, exerting pressure over recalcitrant actors, guarding the integrity of existing peace agreements from internal attacks, leveraging resources, and mandating supportive mechanisms. 

In other cases, the Security Council’s support has backfired, frustrating national efforts or eroding local capacity. 

Given these contrasting outcomes, a new report titled, ‘The UN Security Council and Transitional Justice’, edited by REBECCA BRUBAKER, seeks to provide a preliminary look, across five case studies, at the conditions under which support from the Security Council – as one of many actors in the UN’s transitional justice architecture – can positively impact transitional justice efforts on the ground.

Published by United Nations University’s Center for Policy Research, the report is written for a general audience, though should also be of interest to transitional justice specialists and those interested in the role of the Security Council.

This was a deliberate choice given a general finding through the research that outside the community of transitional justice theorists and practitioners, too little is known about this field. 

Diverging understandings of the definition and scope of transitional justice permeate both the chamber of the Security Council as well as key corridors of the UN Secretariat and the broader UN system.

To this end, it was thought useful to frame the findings from this exploratory project as part of a broader discussion on transitional justice, to help foster greater understanding and a more coherent, coordinated approach within the UN system.

This cross-cutting paper is divided into five parts. The first part offers an overview of the concept of transitional justice and its core components and then situates transitional justice concepts in the broader practice of international law. 

The second section provides a brief introduction to transitional justice and the UN system, examining the primary entities charged with supporting its implementation. 

The third section zooms in on one particular and, as of yet, understudied UN entity with regards to transitional justice – the Security Council. Drawing on recent work, it briefly touches on how the Council’s approach to transitional justice has evolved over the last three decades and the various debates within the Council on transitional justice’s relation to the Council’s broader work. 

The fourth section, as the core of the report, looks at the impact of Security Council strategy and actions on transitional justice efforts on the ground. Drawing from the case studies in this report, it describes the mechanisms used, the challenges faced, and the factors that facilitated impact in these cases. 

The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for the Security Council, the Secretariat, and transitional justice advocates as they think through whether, when and how to engage Council members on these issues going forward.

The paper is designed as a preliminary look at the issue of impact with the goal of sparking discussion and further research. The report and the adjoining case studies – which were completed in August 2020 – are a first attempt at identifying issues that deserve further deliberation.

The UN Security Council and Transitional Justice - UNU Collections