Transitional justice in settled democracies: Northern Ireland and the Basque Country in comparative perspective

ABSTRACT

This article explores the concept of transitional justice in democratic states dealing with political violence. Although transitional justice was designed for paradigmatic transitions (from war to peace and from dictatorship to democracy), conflicted democracies such as Northern Ireland and the Basque Country could also benefit from this framework which brings a comprehensive human rights approach to the past and promotes the principles of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. The article compares the transition from conflict in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country. It explores some of the specific features which characterise processes of transitional justice within settled democracies, such as the blurred break with the past, the fragmentation of initiatives aimed at dealing with violence and the mixture of ordinary and transitional justice. As well as contributing to the conceptualisation of the field of transitional justice, the study proposes that the conflict vs. terrorism divide and the clash of narratives associated with it are the key to understanding these types of transitions.

KEYWORDS:

• Transitional justice
• conflict transformation
• political violence
• terrorism
• Northern Ireland
• Basque Country

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This also happened in the case of Spain’s transition from dictatorship in the 1970s.

2. One of the report’s recommendations was the proposal to grant £12,000 to every family who had a relative killed during the conflict; however, the initiative was strongly rejected by some victim groups because they opposed the fact that members of armed groups could receive the same money as civilians. The debates over the definition of victims caused a major controversy and none of the recommendations were implemented.

3. A Fresh Start. The Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan was an agreement signed by representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive and the British and Irish states, 17 November 2016. Specifically, the Fresh Start agreement committed to addressing “the legacy and impact of paramilitary activity; and the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement” (p. 13). The reference to the “impact of paramilitary activity” responded to the controversy generated in summer 2015 following the alleged involvement of the Provisional IRA in a killing.

4. Spanish Law 52/2007 to Recognise and Extend the Rights and Services for Individuals who were Persecuted or Suffered Violence During the Civil War and the Dictatorship, Spanish Congressional record no. 310, 27 December 2007.

5. Since 2010, the DUP has presented various Private Members Bills in the Northern Ireland Assembly and in Westminster with the aim of excluding “individuals with a conviction” and “victims who were not victimised by a criminal act” from the definition. The initiatives, which gained the support of other unionist parties, were finally rejected.

6. The Victims and Survivors (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, Statutory Instrument, No. 2953 (N.I.17). Point 3.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amaia Alvarez Berastegi

Amaia Alvarez Berastegi is a researcher at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU). She obtained her PhD at the Transitional Justice Institute (Ulster University) and her research and publication interests include political violence, transitional justice and media.