Transitional Justice Institute

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Transitional Justice Institute
Ulster University Transitional Justice Institute logo.png
The institute's logo which encompasses the University logo(left) and the Institute's logo(right).
Established2003 [1]
Focus Transitional Justice, Conflict, Human Rights Law, and International Law
DirectorProf Siobhán Wills [1]
Faculty Faculty of Social Sciences
Staff15–20 staff
Subsidiaries4 research streams
Owner Ulster University
Location,
Website transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/

The Ulster University's Transitional Justice Institute (TJI), is a law-led multidisciplinary research institute of Ulster University which is physically located at the Jordanstown, and Magee 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.

Contents

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 professors are often closely involved in research.

The institute is internationally recognised, receiving recognition from the American Society of International Law 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 [2] as well as the 2010 Basil Chubb Prize for the best PhD produced in any field of politics in an Irish university. [3] The Institute is associated with the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI). [4]

In line with the University's rebranding in October 2014 the institute updated its logo. [5] The TJI undertakes research on transitional justice, conflict, international law, human rights and gender equality. [1]

Research

The Institute has four main research streams or clusters:

Projects

Projects include the Belfast Guidelines on Amnesty and Accountability; the Transitional Justice Grassroots Toolkit (with Bridge of Hope); TJI Principles for Transformative Reparations; [6] databases on peace agreements. [7] TJI staff have helped author the Gender Principles for Dealing with the Legacy of the Past [8] and participated in a project to draft a Model Implementation bill for the Stormont House Agreement. [9] In 2015 the TJI joined a DFID funded collaborative project on Political Settlements. [10] TJI scholarship and policy work has been widely cited by international organisations including in a UN study on UNSCR 1325, [11] the Trust Fund for Victims of the International Criminal Court [12] and in judgments of international courts.

Other TJI projects include: [13]

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*. [14] In terms of research intensity, Law at Ulster was ranked 9th in the UK. [15]

The 4* impact case studies were:

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 in Gender and Transition and 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:

Associate Directors have included:

The TJI was created in 2003, with a grant from Atlantic Philanthropies. [20]

People

Staff members:

Former staff members:

The TJI External Board include:

See also

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