Legal Empowerment: Between Transition and Transformation

Chapter 5 argues for a ‘good enough’ transitional justice which seeks to do more whilst acknowledging both its core strengths and limitations. The chapter explores the potential of linking transitional justice to development and the rule of law through the vehicle of legal empowerment. Building on relationships between transitional justice and development, collective reparations, the rule of law, and access to justice, Waldorf argues that there are four strong reasons to link transitional justice and legal empowerment. 1) They share key goals, notably accountability and building civic trust. 2) There is an increasing convergence in methods, as transitional justice becomes more participatory and bottom-up in orientation. 3) Both approaches contribute to a ‘socialization of a rights culture.’ 4) Transitional justice can help create openings for legal mobilization, claims-making and empowerment. Ultimately, the author argues for legal empowerment as a form of collective legal rehabilitation or reparations.