Judges, conflict, and the past

McEvoy, K. and Schwartz, A. (2015) Judges, conflict, and the past. Journal of Law and Society, 42(4), pp. 528-555. (doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6478.2015.00724.x)

Abstract

Drawing upon interviews with senior judicial figures in Northern Ireland, South Africa and elsewhere, this article considers the role of the judiciary in a political conflict. Using the socio-legal literature on judicial performance and audience as well as transitional justice scholarship, the article argues that judges in Northern Ireland ‘performed’ to a number of ‘imagined’ audiences including Parliament, ‘the public', and their judicial peers – all of which shaped their view of the judicial role. In light of ongoing efforts to deal with the past in the jurisdiction, and the experiences of other transitional societies, the article argues that the judiciary can and should engage in a mature, reflexive and, where appropriate, self-critical examination of the good and bad of their own institutional history during the conflict. It also argues that such a review of judicial performance requires an external audience in order to encourage the judiciary to see truth beyond the limits of legalism.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schwartz, Dr Alex
• Authors: McEvoy, K., and Schwartz, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Journal of Law and Society
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0263-323X
• ISSN (Online): 1467-6478
• Published Online: 08 November 2015