About TJI

The Transitional Justice Institute is world leading multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research, education, and creative practice centre focusing on transitional justice. Our members work through law, psychology, sociology, and the arts to address the impact of conflict, authoritarianism, slavery and colonialism on human rights, racial and gender equality, and sustainable peace and development. We work alongside directly impacted communities as co-partners (rather than research subjects) in collaboration with community-led organisations, local and global NGOs, governmental bodies, museums and creative collectives. We regularly hold public seminars and film-screenings, and occasionally exhibitions.

In Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021, 82% of our Law research at Ulster has been rated as world-leading and internationally excellent, across outputs, impact and environment.

Our aims

We aim to:

Produce world-leading and world-changing research in transitional justice.
Inform real-world transitional justice law, policy and practice in Northern Ireland and across the world.
Develop the next generation of transitional justice researchers and practitioners through outstanding LLM, Short Course and PhD programmes.

Research themes

Our research focuses on:

Dealing with the Past, Memorialisation, Cultural Rights
Gender
International Law and International Justice
Social and Economic Rights in Transition
Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers
The Role of the Creative Arts in Transitional Justice
The Right to Physical and Mental Health
The Ongoing Impact of Colonialism and Slavery
Disappearance and State Responses in Latin America

Research impact

Our research has helped to address the gender gap in the NI peace process (examining women’s rights, masculinities and LGBTQ+ issues), and advanced accountability for human rights violations in Iraq, Haiti, Kenya, Palestine, Latin America and NI.

Reflecting our international focus and impacts, the TJI is made up of a genuinely diverse community of researchers. As well as the UK and Ireland, TJI researchers come from across the globe, including Denmark, Spain, Turkey, Liberia, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Colombia and Venezuela.

Who we work with

TJI researchers work extensively with local and global civil society and human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Consortium, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, NI Council for Racial Equality, Healing through Remembering and the Global Network for Women Peacebuilders, to support their work.

We regularly work with international organisations, including UN Women, United Nations Development Programme, UN Peacebuilding Commission, the ICC Trust Fund for Victims and UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, to strengthen the evidence-base for their activities.