Transitional Justice and Small States: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tunisia

Abstract

Transitional justice is universal and systematic tool of the international community in post-conflict or post-dictatorial contexts with a strong link to the human rights norms. Thus, post-conflict states from diverse regions of the globe-from Europe and Central and Latin America to Africa and Asia-apply transitional justice mechanisms hoping it would positively contribute to a peaceful transition to a democratic state based on the rule of law. This article explores the cases of two small states: Bosnia-Herzegovina and Tunisia, that put transitional justice mechanisms in place to tackle the human rights violations and to further a full democratic transition. It will illustrate the challenges faced by these two states with different political, sociocultural and legal context in applying transitional justice mechanisms.