Introduction

War and conflict often bear witness to deep violations of law and justice. When armed conflict subsides, and after the fall of oppressive regimes, important questions arise as to which measures can bring guilty parties to justice, and can rehabilitate those subject to crime, loss and damage. Transitional justice seeks to address these issues, and to understand how best to move toward a just and stable society in the wake of conflict.

By what means, how far, and by whose agency, deep violations of law and justice are to be redressed in the wake of conflict, are not only contemporary questions but probably as old as conflict itself. In the past, mechanisms of redress were often less effective, and more unilateral, than in the post-WWII environment of multi-lateral organizations and treaties, international tribunals, and truth commissions. Yet historical governments have also relied on procedural measures against the defeated, focusing not only on the punishment of particular offenders, but the restitution of property and other rights, and the re-establishment of civil law after upheaval.

In ancient Athens, at post-conflict moments of punishment and reconciliation, democratic governments conducted political trials of oligarchs that found the accused selectively guilty, moderated their exclusion from political offices, and made concessions for the sake of peace. In medieval Florence, a popular commune in the thirteenth century limited the participation of magnates in government, and introduced capital and other punishments for the killing and wounding of commoners. Athens and Florence were not unusual: within historical polities and between them, elements of transitional justice can be found following conflict, with historically contingent results.

This digital exhibit, drawn from the extensive Arthur C. Pulling Rare Books Collection at the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center in the University of Minnesota Law Library, highlights volumes that touch on theories and moments of peace, justice, and post-conflict reconciliation, from high medieval Europe to the war crimes trials following WWII.

The Riesenfeld Center gratefully acknowledges the support of University of Minnesota Law School Dean Garry Jenkins and Associate Dean Joan Howland, in the creation of this digital exhibit, as well as its partnership with the Law School’s Human Rights Center. The exhibit was curated by Patrick Graybill, Ryan Greenwood and Ian Moret.