Personalia
Rianne Letschert, born in Doetinchem, the Netherlands, 1976. Ph.D. from Tilburg University. Professor International Law and Victimology at Tilburg University.
Schermers Fellow (1 February – 30 June 2016)
A waste of time or no time to waste? Assessing the impact of reparative justice procedures
Research Question
This project will determine if the laws and procedures relating to reparations meet their underlying assumptions by assessing the perceptions of persons victimized by international crimes and serious human rights violations through applying a multidisciplinary methodological framework ultimately aiming to the development of a theory of reparative justice. In short, to what extent can international law indeed repair harm of victims of war and conflict?
Project Description
The international right to reparation aims to alleviate the suffering of victims of international crimes or serious human rights violations. This should contribute to justice and help the reconstruction process of societies that struggle after war, internal conflict and/or political violence. International criminal justice institutions and international human rights procedures were set up to process the right to reparation. However, neither the impact of the right to reparation on the experience of victims of atrocities nor the mechanisms by which this impact is supposed to be reached have been subjected to much scrutiny. This research will conduct empirical research in Congo, Cambodia, Suriname and Cyprus to assess this impact.
Selected Publications
2015 Pemberton, A. & Letschert, R.M, Justice as the Art of Muddling Through: The importance of nyaya in the aftermath of international crimes, in Brandts, C & Karstedt, S., Engagement, Legitimacy, Contestation: Transitional Justice and its Public Spheres, Hart Publishers.
2015 Pemberton, A., Letschert, R.M., De Brouwer, A.-M. and Haveman, R. Coherence in International Criminal Justice: A victimological perspective, International Criminal Law Review
2014 Letschert, R. & Parmentier, S., Repairing the Impossible: Victimological approaches to international crimes, in: Vanfraechem, Ndahinda and Pemberton, Justice for Victims, Routledge