Utopia and the Doubters: Truth, Transition and the Law

Campbell, C.; Turner, C.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-121x.2008.00093.x

Utopia and the Doubters: Truth, Transition and the Law

Campbell, C.; Turner, C.

Authors

C. Campbell

Professor Catherine Turner catherine.turner@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Truth commissions have an intuitive appeal in squaring the circle of peace and accountability post-conflict, but some claims for their benefits risk utopianism. Law provides both opportunities and pitfalls for post-conflict justice initiatives, including the operation of truth commissions. Rather than adopting a heavily legalised approach, derived from Public Inquiries, an ‘holistic legal model’, employing social science fact-finding methodologies to explore pattern of violations, and drawing appropriately on legal standards, may provide the best option for a possible Northern Ireland truth commission.

Citation

Campbell, C., & Turner, C. (2008). Utopia and the Doubters: Truth, Transition and the Law. Legal Studies, 28(3), 374-395. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121x.2008.00093.x

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Sep 1, 2008
Deposit Date	Jan 11, 2013
Publicly Available Date	Feb 3, 2016
Journal	Legal Studies
Print ISSN	0261-3875
Electronic ISSN	1748-121X
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	28
Issue	3
Pages	374-395
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121x.2008.00093.x

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This is the accepted version of the following article: Campbell, C. and Turner, C. (2008), Utopia and the doubters: truth, transition and the law. Legal Studies, 28(3): 374-395, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-121X.2008.00093.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.