Kieran McEvoy – författare

This book offers a unique analysis of paramilitary imprisonment in Northern Ireland. The central focus of the book is the struggle between inmates and the state concerning the prisoners' assertion of their status as political prisoners. Drawing upon interviews with former Republican and Loyalist prisoners as well as prison managers and staff, this book locates that experience within the broader theoretical literature on imprisonment. Four forms of prison resistance are examined by which prisoners asserted their political status. Dirty protest and hunger strike are characterised as resistance through self sacrifice. Violence, destruction and intimidation are examined as prison resistance becoming an extension of armed struggle. Escape is analysed as a form of resistance through ridicule. And finally law is considered as instrumental resistance and a dialogical process with a range of audiences. The book then considers a range of prison management adopted by the prison authorities. `Reactive Containment' is described as a military-led model of management which incapacitated the terrorist `enemy' but acknowledged the political character of the inmates. `Criminalization' is viewed as a strategy designed to deny any practical or symbolic acceptance of the political motivation of prisoners. `Managerialism', it is argued, encompasses a series of scientific discourses to rationalise conflicting interactions with prisoners, from pragmatic accommodations to a dogged determination to prevent further recognition of de facto political status. The book concludes with an analysis of the early release of paramilitary prisoners and the conflict resolution process and some reflections on political prisons as spaces both during and after a political conflict.

This book brings together many of the most prominent contemporary national and international human rights and transitional justice scholars in one collection. The book focuses in particular on the intersection between judges, transitional processes and human rights discourses. It brings together doctrinal, socio-legal and criminological perspectives on a range of topics including the judicial construction of national and supra-national constitutions, the role of human rights discourses in transition from conflict, and in a range of sites in more 'settled' societies. The book draws upon comparative experiences in South Africa, Canada, the USA, Britain, Ireland, the Balkans, the Weimar Republic, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere. It also situates that analysis within supra-national and indeed subnational frameworks.

This book brings together many of the most prominent contemporary national and international human rights and transitional justice scholars in one collection. The book focuses in particular on the intersection between judges, transitional processes and human rights discourses. It brings together doctrinal, socio-legal and criminological perspectives on a range of topics including the judicial construction of national and supra-national constitutions, the role of human rights discourses in transition from conflict, and in a range of sites in more 'settled' societies. The book draws upon comparative experiences in South Africa, Canada, the USA, Britain, Ireland, the Balkans, the Weimar Republic, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere. It also situates that analysis within supra-national and indeed subnational frameworks.

Scholars and practitioners working in ‘transitional justice’ are concerned with remedies of accountability and redress in the aftermath of conflict and state repression. Transitional justice, it is argued, provides recognition of the rights of victims, promotes civic trust, and strengthens the democratic rule of law. As serious scholarship flourishes around this critical concept as never before, this new collection from Routledge meets the need for an authoritative reference work to map a vibrant site of research and reflection. In four volumes, Transitional Justice is an accessible database which brings together foundational and the best and most influential cutting-edge materials, including key works produced before the term ‘transitional justice’ gained wide currency but which anticipate approaches now included under that rubric.The collection covers themes such as: truth and history; acknowledgement, reconciliation, and forgiveness; retribution, restorative justice and reparations; and democracy, state-building, identity, and civil society. Fully indexed and with a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editors, Transitional Justice is an essential work of reference.

Countries undergoing or recovering from conflict and authoritarianism often face profound rule of law challenges. The law on the statute books may be repressive, judicial independence may be compromised, and criminal justice agencies may be captured by powerful interests. How do lawyers working within such settings imagine the law? How do they understand their ethical obligations towards their clients and the rule of law? What factors motivate them to use their legal practice and social capital to challenge repressive power? What challenges and risks can they face if they do so? And when do lawyers facilitate or acquiesce to illegality and injustice? Drawing on over 130 interviews from Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, South Africa, and Tunisia, this book explores the extent to which theoretical understandings within law and society research on the motivations, strategies, tactics, and experiences of lawyers within democratic states apply to these more challenging environments.

Countries undergoing or recovering from conflict and authoritarianism often face profound rule of law challenges. The law on the statute books may be repressive, judicial independence may be compromised, and criminal justice agencies may be captured by powerful interests. How do lawyers working within such settings imagine the law? How do they understand their ethical obligations towards their clients and the rule of law? What factors motivate them to use their legal practice and social capital to challenge repressive power? What challenges and risks can they face if they do so? And when do lawyers facilitate or acquiesce to illegality and injustice? Drawing on over 130 interviews from Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, South Africa, and Tunisia, this book explores the extent to which theoretical understandings within law and society research on the motivations, strategies, tactics, and experiences of lawyers within democratic states apply to these more challenging environments.

This book provides the first detailed examination of the role played by former loyalist and republican prisoners in grass roots conflict transformation work in the Northern Ireland peace process. It challenges the assumed passivity of former prisoners and ex-combatants. Instead, it suggests that such individuals and the groups which they formed have been key agents of conflict transformation. They have provided leadership in challenging cultures of violence, developed practical methods of resolving inter-communal conflict and found ways for communities to explore their troubled past. In analysing this, the authors challenge the sterile demonisation of former prisoners and the processes that maintain their exclusion from normal civic and social life. The book is a constructive reminder of the need for full participation of both former combatants and victims in post-conflict transformation. It also lays out a new agenda for reconciliation which suggests that conflict transformation can and should begin 'from the extremes'. The book will be of interest to students of criminology, peace and conflict studies, law and politics, geography and sociology as well as those with a particular interest in the Northern Ireland conflict.

This book provides the first detailed examination of the role played by former loyalist and republican prisoners in grass roots conflict transformation work in the Northern Ireland peace process. It challenges the assumed passivity of former prisoners and ex-combatants. Instead, it suggests that such individuals and the groups which they formed have been key agents of conflict transformation. They have provided leadership in challenging cultures of violence, developed practical methods of resolving inter-communal conflict and found ways for communities to explore their troubled past. In analysing this, the authors challenge the sterile demonisation of former prisoners and the processes that maintain their exclusion from normal civic and social life. The book is a constructive reminder of the need for full participation of both former combatants and victims in post-conflict transformation. It also lays out a new agenda for reconciliation which suggests that conflict transformation can and should begin 'from the extremes'. The book will be of interest to students of criminology, peace and conflict studies, law and politics, geography and sociology as well as those with a particular interest in the Northern Ireland conflict.

This title was first published in 2000: This text reports on the findings of the Communities Crime Survey, a communities-based survey carried out within Northern Ireland. The survey asked a number of questions beyond the usual remit of local crime surveys, in order to explore more fully a whole range of issues relating to the experience of living in a society where more obvious manifestations of conflict are beginning to recede and other more mundane but still important issues relating to crime and policing are coming to the fore. The book aims to go behind the headlines of violence and political conflict to examine how people in a range of communities in Northern Ireland experience a whole range of factors relating to crime, policing and the general experience of living within their particular communities. The process of change is far from over in Northern Ireland, and this book indicates how some of the central issues that must be resolved are perceived by a range of ordinary people in various urban and rural communities, in religiously segregated and integrated communities and those with different levels of income and social infrastructure. The experiences and attitudes gathered are important in understanding how the process of change and development in this society might be advanced, and what lessons might be offered to elsewhere. The survey ultimately concludes that Northern Ireland is neither a homogeneous entity nor a society that is simply divided on religious and/or political grounds. Rather it is a society that is divided by religion and politics, but also by a number of other variables, including geography, gender, age, socio-economic class and ethnic origin, all of which in part influence people's experiences and attitudes towards crime and policing.

This title was first published in 2000: This text reports on the findings of the Communities Crime Survey, a communities-based survey carried out within Northern Ireland. The survey asked a number of questions beyond the usual remit of local crime surveys, in order to explore more fully a whole range of issues relating to the experience of living in a society where more obvious manifestations of conflict are beginning to recede and other more mundane but still important issues relating to crime and policing are coming to the fore. The book aims to go behind the headlines of violence and political conflict to examine how people in a range of communities in Northern Ireland experience a whole range of factors relating to crime, policing and the general experience of living within their particular communities. The process of change is far from over in Northern Ireland, and this book indicates how some of the central issues that must be resolved are perceived by a range of ordinary people in various urban and rural communities, in religiously segregated and integrated communities and those with different levels of income and social infrastructure. The experiences and attitudes gathered are important in understanding how the process of change and development in this society might be advanced, and what lessons might be offered to elsewhere. The survey ultimately concludes that Northern Ireland is neither a homogeneous entity nor a society that is simply divided on religious and/or political grounds. Rather it is a society that is divided by religion and politics, but also by a number of other variables, including geography, gender, age, socio-economic class and ethnic origin, all of which in part influence people's experiences and attitudes towards crime and policing.

Although relatively new as a distinct field of study, transitional justice has become rapidly established as a vital field of enquiry. From vaguely exotic origins on the outer edges of political science, the study of 'justice' in times of transition has emerged as a central concern of scholarship and practical policy-making. A process of institutionalisation has confirmed this importance. The ICTY, the ICTR, the ICC, hybrid tribunals in Sierra Leone and East Timor and 'local' processes such as the Iraqi Higher Tribunal (IHT) have energised international law and international criminal justice scholarship. The South African TRC was for a time lauded as the model for dealing with the past and remains one of the most researched institutions in the world. It is one of approximately two dozen such institutions established in different transitional contexts over the past twenty years to assist conflicted societies to come to terms with a violent past. At the national level, international donors contribute huge sums of money to 'Rule of Law' programmes designed to transform national justice systems.This collection seeks to offer something quite different to the mainstream of scholarship in this area, emphasising the need for bespoke solutions to different transitions rather than 'off the shelf' models. The collection is designed to offer a space for diversity, prompted by a series of perspectives "from below" of societies beset by past violent conflict which have sought to effect their transition to justice. In doing so the contributors have also sought to enrich discussion about the role of human rights in transition, the continuing usefulness of perspectives from above, and the still contested meanings of "transition".

Unlike many other peace accords, the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998 did not include a formal mechanism for 'dealing with the past' in Northern Ireland. Despite that omission, the politics of truth recovery and its assumed links to reconciliation have been a constant theme in the transition from conflict in the jurisdiction. This book critically explores that relationship. It draws extensively from the international context and the author's experience over several years of grassroots work exploring 'dealing with the past' style initiatives. It charts the myriad of styles of truth recovery which have been part of the Northern Ireland transition including the Bloody Sunday Tribunal, public inquiries into controversial deaths, the work of the Office of the Police Ombudsman, litigation strategies and various 'bottom up' community based efforts at truth recovery. It also reflects upon the recommendations of the British government appointed Consultative Group on the Past and the contested debate as to how and whether its recommendations should be implemented. The book argues that the Northern Ireland experience speaks to important issues more generally in transitional justice concerning the sequencing, ownership and forms of truth recovery deployed, the agentic capacity of grass-roots activism, the politicization of victimhood, the construction and deployment of transitional knowledge, the importance of political will and leadership in transitions and the problematic relationship between truth recovery and reconciliation.