Funder: Department for the Economy
Awarded: £9,970
Duration: 01/12/17 - 31/07/17
Staff Involved: Dr Thomas Hansen
Read the online version of the Nairobi Principles on Accountability.
Description
Based on Kenya’s experiences with international justice, this project (the “Nairobi Principles on Accountability”) aims to set standards and create guidance for future justice processes relating to international crimes, and thereby create a platform for policy and legal change, internationally, regionally and locally.
The project is based on close collaboration between the principal investigator, Thomas Obel Hansen, and key stakeholders in Kenya, including researchers and civil society activists within the framework of ‘Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice’. In this sense, the project facilitates additional impact by empowering local human rights groups to advance transformative justice and build their capacity to engage international and regional decision-makers.
The initial project has concluded successfully, with two meetings being conducted in Kenya, which created a solid foundation for drafting the Principles as well as an associated resource centre comprising relevant academic and other publications. More specifically, the principal investigator and KPTJ have identified the stakeholders to be involved in a “core group of experts” under the project, which jointly and collaboratively informs and frames the project.
This group is now consolidated, and is collectively involved in the drafting process and other work under the project under the overall coordination of the grant holder.
The initial project also facilitated discussion of the methodology to be used developing the “Nairobi Principles on Accountability”, including working methods of the core group and standards for drafting the Principles; initial discussion on the substance issues addressed by the project, including the four key themes addressed by the project:
- State cooperation
- Immunity of State officials
- Complementarity
- Victims and Witnesses; facilitated initial discussion concerning the stakeholders beyond the core group of experts to be consulted at a later stage of the project; discussed means of how best to achieve policy impact, including utilization and dissemination of the Principles; and created a detailed roadmap for how to proceed with and conclude the project.
The principal investigator and KPTJ are working on securing additional funding for the project.