Amnesties, Prosecution and the Public Interest in the Northern Ireland Transition

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CONTEXTThis application for Follow-on Funding aims to build upon the comparative research conducted in the Beyond Legalism project which explored the use of amnesties in conflict transformation in South Africa, Uganda, Uruguay, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina. Originally, that project did not include Northern Ireland, as the debate was not a 'live' one at the time. Since that grant was completed, the public need for an internationally and legally informed contribution on the relationship between amnesties, non-prosecution and dealing with the past in Northern Ireland has become increasingly apparent. Together with the partner organisation, Healing Through Remembering, this proposal seeks to address that gap.AIMS AND OBJECTIVESThe overall aim of this 12-month project is to facilitate a process of knowledge exchange between the academic team, the project partner and key local actors on the role of amnesties and prosecution in dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. To achieve this aim, the project objectives are:1. To engage in a process of gradual knowledge exchange through a carefully sequenced pattern of engagement with key local actors, including victims, former Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, security force members, politicians and civil servants, and civil society representatives. This engagement will move from a series of private briefings for key constituencies during months 1-3; to a series of invite-only roundtables in months 4-8 that will explore themes identified on the basis of the Beyond Legalism project research; to a public conference at which local and international scholars and practitioners will explore the project themes in month 11.2. To disseminate the Beyond Legalism findings and inform public debate through strategic interaction with print, broadcast and online media, and the creation of a project website.3. To reflect upon and disseminate the knowledge produced in a project report and a fully theorised academic article (which will focus explicitly on this style of knowledge transfer).4. To work with our project partner to enhance the organisation's technical capacity.POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS AND BENEFITSThis project will benefit a range of non-academic audiences. Within Northern Ireland, beneficiaries will include the project partner, other local civil society organisations, relevant government departments, policing organisations (PSNI, HET and Police Ombudsman), human rights groups and legal institutions (especially Public Prosecution Service). These groups will benefit from the private briefings, invite-only roundtables, and public conference. For NGOs, this engagement will again enhance their knowledge of the international legal framework concerning amnesties and of how other jurisdictions have grappled with these challenges. For governmental actors, the project will contribute to greater evidence-based policymaking and, potentially, impact on the operational and organisational culture of relevant institutions. For all local users, the project will create a space for informed and debate on highly sensitive topic.Elsewhere, the project will benefit policymakers within the United Kingdom, Ireland, and internationally who work on transitional justice. The proposed programme of knowledge exchange and dissemination will provide a transferrable methodology and will contribute to evidence-based policymaking among international actors, and raise international awareness of the complexities of balancing immunity, truth and prosecutions.The project will also be of interest to academics working in the fields of political science, criminology, international relations, anthropology, sociology, peace studies and conflict transformation. The project will develop and refine the theoretical contributions of the Beyond Legalism project and will propose a methodology designed to address critiques of international comparative work as rarely offering tangible benefits for the local community