The Ulster University's Transitional Justice Institute (TJI), is a law-led multidisciplinary
research institute
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often ...
of
Ulster University
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
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, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
which is physically located at the
Jordanstown
Jordanstown ( ga, Baile Mhic Shiúrtáin) is a townland (of 964 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the urban area of Newtownabbey and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It is also situated ...
, and
Magee Magee may refer to:
People
* Magee (surname)
Places and institutions
* Magee, Mississippi, a city in Simpson County, Mississippi, U.S.
* Magee, New York, also known as Magee's Corners, a hamlet in the Town of Tyre, Seneca County, New York, U.S.
* ...
campuses. It was created in 2003, making it the first and longest-established university research centre on this theme. In the 2014 ''
Research Excellence Framework (REF)'' Law at Ulster University was ranked 4th overall in the UK. Ulster was ranked first for impact in law with 100% of impact rated as world-leading, the only University to achieve this in law.
Within the Institute, there are over 15 researchers based on the Jordanstown and Magee campuses of the university. In addition, the TJI has approximately 15
doctoral students researching and studying towards their chosen topics. Visiting scholars and
visiting professor
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
s are often closely involved in research.
The institute is internationally recognised, receiving recognition from the
American Society of International Law
The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the b ...
in 2006 with TJI scholars being awarded top book and article prize for ''creative and outstanding contributions to international legal scholarship''. Staff have been awarded the 2009 Hart SLSA Early Career Award and jointly awarded the 2009
British Society of Criminology Book Prize
as well as the 2010 Basil Chubb Prize for the best PhD produced in any field of politics in an Irish university.
The Institute is associated with the
Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI).
In line with the University's rebranding in October 2014 the institute updated its logo.
The TJI undertakes research on
transitional justice,
conflict,
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
,
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
.
Research
The Institute has four main research streams or clusters:
* Dealing with the Past
* Gender, Conflict and Transition
* Northern Ireland – Local and Global Perspectives
* Theory Method and Evaluation
Projects
Projects include the
Belfast Guidelines on Amnesty and Accountability; the
Transitional Justice Grassroots Toolkit (with Bridge of Hope); TJI Principles for Transformative Reparations; databases on peace agreements. TJI staff have helped author the Gender Principles for Dealing with the Legacy of the Past and participated in a project to draft a Model Implementation bill for the
Stormont House Agreement.
In 2015 the TJI joined a
DFID
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, picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...
funded collaborative project on Political Settlements.
TJI scholarship and policy work has been widely cited by international organisations including in a UN study on UNSCR 1325, the
Trust Fund for Victims of the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...
and in judgments of international courts.
Other TJI projects include:
* Commemoration and Law: Narratives of Political Violence in Transitional and Conflicted Societies
* An Investigation of Use of Force by UN Peacekeeping Operations
* Picturing Peace: Murals, Conflict and Transition in Colombia
* Policing and Forensic Issues in the Search for Truth and/or Justice for Forced Disappearance
* Political Capacity Building: Advancing a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
* Role of Databases in Transitional Justice Research
RAE 2008
The TJI manages the Law submission in the RAE and REF process for Ulster University. In the ''
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)'' process in 2008, the Ulster was ranked 13th out of 64 Law submissions in the UK.
REF 2014
In the 2014 ''
Research Excellence Framework (REF)'' Law at Ulster University was ranked 4th overall in the UK (based on GPA) out of more than 60 law submissions. As a result, 88% of all work was deemed to be internationally excellent or world leading. Concerning the new impact criterion, Law was ranked 1st in the UK, with 100% of impact rated as world-leading (4 *).
In addition, 100% of research submitted was given an impact and environment rating of 3* or 4*.
In terms of research intensity, Law at Ulster was ranked 9th in the UK.
The 4* impact case studies were:
* Amnesty, Accountability and Victims' Rights in Peace Processes
* Framing Transitional Justice Practice: Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland
* Gender, Conflict and Transition
Education
The TJI, in cooperation with the
Ulster University School of Law offers masters programmes in Human Rights and Transitional Justice, and Gender, Conflict and Human Rights. It also runs a short course i
Gender and Transitionand in Equality Law.
Governance
The TJI is led by a director. The institute has staff from the School of Law and the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences.
Directors have included:
* Professor Siobhán Wills (2021-date)
* Dr Catherine O'Rourke (2020–2021)
* Professor Rory O'Connell.
(2014–2020)
* Professor Bill Rolston (2010–2014)
Associate Directors have included:
* Professor
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin (-present)
The TJI was created in 2003, with a grant from
Atlantic Philanthropies
The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) was a private foundation created in 1982 by Irish-American businessman Chuck Feeney. The Atlantic Philanthropies focused its giving on health, social, and politically left-leaning public policy causes in Australi ...
.
People
Staff members:
* Professor
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on Protecting Human Rights While Countering Terrorism in 2017. She is concurrently the Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota Law School
The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent Law (M ...
and a professor of law at the Ulster University's Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was formerly the Dorsey & Whitney Chair in Law at Minnesota. Her 2006 book, Law in Times of Crisis (Cambridge University Press), was awarded the Certificate of Merit for creative scholarship in 2007, the
American Society of International Law
The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the b ...
's preeminent prize. She has been nominated twice (2004 and 2007) by the Irish government to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
, the first woman and the first academic lawyer to be thus nominated. She was appointed by the Irish Minister of Justice to the
Irish Human Rights Commission
The Irish Human Rights Commission has been merged with the Equality Authority. Both former organisations were dissolved and their functions transferred to a new statutory body, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission on 1 November 2014.
Th ...
in 2000 and served until 2005. In 2017 she was named as a candidate for the position of Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. Prof Ní Aoláin has received Ulster's Distinguished Researcher (Senior) Award in 2016.
* Professor
Monica McWilliams played an active part in the multi-party negotiations that led to the intergovernmental
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in N ...
in 1998. Prof McWilliams was the second Chief Commissioner of the
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. She received Ulster University's Distinguished Enterprise Award in December 2014. She was a member of the
Fresh Start Agreement panel examining the issue of paramilitariasm in Northern Ireland. Prof Monica McWilliams has been appointed to the Fresh Start Independent Monitoring Commission.
* Professor Brandon Hamber is a former Director of INCORE. He holds the John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace.
* Professor Cath Collins was the
Chatham House
Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...
Research Fellow for Latin America (2005–2007)
* Professor Louise Mallinder was awarded the 2009 Hart SLSA Early Career Award and jointly awarded the 2009 British Society of Criminology Book Prize
* Dr Catherine O'Rourke was awarded the 2010 Basil Chubb Prize for the best PhD produced in any field of politics in an Irish university.
She was also awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2016.
* Dr Jessica Doyle was awarded the 2016 Basil Chubb Prize for the best PhD produced in any field of politics in an Irish university.
* Research Manager Lisa Thompson and Clerical Support Elaine McCoubrey have each won Ulster's Distinguished Service Award.
Former staff members:
* Professor
David Kretzmer
* Professor Colm Campbell
* Professor Christine Bell
* Professor Tom Hadden
The TJI External Board include:
*Professor
Diane Marie Amann
Diane Marie Amann is Regents' Professor of International Law and holds the Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. She has served since mid-2017 as a faculty co-director of the law school's D ...
*Professor Christine Bell
*Professor Bill Bowring
*Professor Chris McCrudden
*Professor Ruth Rubio Marin
*Professor Ruti Teitel
*Dr Nahla Valji
See also
*
Ulster University School of Law
*
Transitional Justice
References
External links
TJI Main PageAHRI Network
{{coord missing, Northern Ireland
Ulster University
Legal research institutes
Social science institutes
Multidisciplinary research institutes
Research institutes in the United Kingdom
Human rights organisations based in the United Kingdom
International law