Transitional Justice for Syria

by Nicholas Rostow

About the Author: Dr. Nicholas Rostow is Distinguished 

Research Professor and Senior Director in the Center for Strategic 

Research, Institute for National Strategic Studies, at the National 

Defense University. He also is a Senior Research Scholar at the Yale Law School

Transitional justice is the provision of justice in the transition from one form of government, often perceived as illegitimate, unjust, and tyrannical, or an anarchic society, to one that observes the rule of law and  administers justice. It also is about choices: how to allocate scarce prosecutorial,  judicial, police, and prison resources. The goal is to make the rule of law ordinary.  A 2004 report of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on the rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and postconflict societies observed that most examples of transitional justice involved states emerging from civil war or widespread civil unrest such that government became impossible