Rule of Law After War and Crisis

Rule of law has emerged as an essential objective in assistance to post-conflict and post-crisis societies, such as Somalia, Kosovo, Liberia, and Egypt. This has led to a host of externally promoted programs and projects on law reform, constitutional development, judicial training, and security sector transformation. Through UN Security Council resolutions and other means of conditionality, the rule of law is not simply promoted in post-conflict and crisis settings, but it is also enforced. A failure to adhere to the rule of law can result in donors withholding funds and political support. The employment of the concept as a standard and condition in State-building has national consequences, both legal and political. Clarity in communication on the rule of law is of great importance. This book provides a critical analysis of past and current rule-of-law promotion, and it argues that, despite past experiences of development and technical assistance, rule-of-law reform in war-torn and crisis societies operates in an autonomous field where the best practices and the lessons learned are rarely, or only superficially, acknowledged. Furthermore, there is a need for a reorientation of rule-of-law assistance to the core values of the concept in order to retain its independent and 'analytical bite, ' and to develop criteria that can guide reformers in the field. The book provides a comparative and systematic overview of how rule-of-law promotion has been put into effect, and it identifies the challenges and opportunities for enhancing and strengthening norms, ideologies, and methods for legal and judicial reform after war and crisis. (Series: Series on Transitional Justice - Vol. 7

Richard Zajac Sannerholm has experience from rule of law reform in fragile and conflict states, working as a researcher and adviser for international organizations, national agencies and non-governmental organizations. Assignments include research and programming on legal education, public administration reform and administrative justice, legal pluralism and rule of law training. He has published on a wide range of issues, including on UN peace operations and rule of law, legal transplants and legal transformation, criminal justice and administrative justice in crisis settings, and donor engagement in authoritarian countries. He is the head of the Rule of Law Programme at the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA). He joined the FBA in 2009.