Should restorative justice principles be applied in situations of gross violations of human rights? If so, under which conditions can this take place and what are the boundaries herein? These central issues will be tested using case studies on South Africa. This study attempts to bridge two immensely different theoretical movements: “transitional justice” and “restorative justice”.
The research project is intended to study how restorative justice principles can be applied in transitional justice processes that are dealing with the aftermath of gross human rights violations that have occurred during a violent conflict. The main unit of analysis of this study is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)(institutional context), and the processes on the community level that are derived from these commissions (individual level).
The range of “restorative justice” processes (communication, confrontation, dialogue) for victims and offenders will be analysed extensively with regard to their form and availability (restitution, community service, other forms of restoration) in addition to being examined with regard to their “restorativeness” and effects. The empirical study is based on two sets of data. First, interview data from victims, perpetrators and stakeholders that have participated in the TRC is included. This data will be analysed by means of a content analysis. Second, interviews from South African experts that have studied the TRC process serves as another source of information utilized in the study. The analysis of this data will be based on the Delphi method.
