The ‘Rule of Law’ Impasse? Overcoming conceptual ambiguity and thinking beyond the orthodox approach to rule of law reform in post-conflict societies.
The ‘Rule of Law’ Impasse? Overcoming conceptual ambiguity and thinking beyond the orthodox approach to rule of law reform in post-conflict societies.

Summary/Abstract: Recognising the continued importance and relevance of rule of law promotion in transitional justice processes and for sustainable peace and development in countries emerging out of conflict and widespread human rights violations, this paper looks at some of the issues that have been hindering international support to justice sector reform from advancing beyond its so-called ‘orthodoxy’. It examines how conceptual ambiguity has affected the ways in which rule of law programmes are conceived, planned, implemented and evaluated, and thus, how it has contributed to a so-called rule of law impasse. It also looks at some of the programmatic shortcomings as a consequence of this impasse and concludes, by identifying some steps taken in a different direction, that there’s an eagerness to move beyond the orthodox rule of law paradigm.

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