Jan KlabbersThis epilogue takes stock of the volume and sketches some of the ramifications: if the vacuum assumption (i.e. international organizations only interact with their member states) no longer holds, assuming it ever did, then what? The author proposes that international organizations are better seen as political and economic actors in their own right. They may be given a function upon establishment, but usually develop a certain autonomy. This renders them closer to administrative agencies and offers a more realistic foundation on which to build further legal thought – and thus might be able to take third parties into account.

The world of research and innovation is no exception to a broader societal demand (at least in liberal democracies) for more direct participation of citizens in various areas of public and political life, as attested by the significant development of various forms of “citizen science” programs. Such inclusiveness is nowadays commonly considered a means to better align the outputs of scientific research and innovation with the values and needs of society, hence fostering a more humanistic science. This chapter discusses the cogency of this requisite by addressing both epistemological and political challenges raised by opening up the process of knowledge production to nonprofessional inquirers and stakeholders. It assesses the prima facie tension between the inclusion of stakeholders in scientific research and traditional expectations of objectivity and impartiality. It also challenges the valuation of culturally well-entrenched features of science such as the valuation of unpredictable and unforeseen applications of scientific developments. Finally, it identifies various challenges to be met to enable a more inclusive science to effectively reduce the gap between its outputs and society’s needs, such as the need for an evolution of the professional training of scientists and of incentives from scientific institutions.

This chapter explores the relationship between international organizations and the market. It starts by building a taxonomy of the types of relationships these organizations can establish with the market. The taxonomy distinguishes between two main types of relationships: the direct institutional relationship, where the market is part of the organizations’ institutional mission, and the indirect instrumental relationship, which arises as a consequence of the organizations’ instrumental activities, such as procurement. This distinction is based on indices that define the characteristics of each relationship, including function, market players and their roles, values and interests and economic impact. Building on this distinction, the analysis identifies the instruments – regulatory tools and practices – through which organizations impact the market and examines the issue of the organizations’ accountability within this relationship. It concludes that the current accountability tools are inadequate and create a temporal dissonance between international organizations and the changed ethos of public powers. The perpetuation of this dissonance is not only relevant to the legitimacy of organizations but also to their very existence. An awareness and understanding of the relationship between international organizations and the market is the first step in seeking an alignment of international organizations to the current public powers’ ethos.

Chapter 1 presents the main argument of Escaping Justice. Accounting for the demand for norm compliance and the domestic risks inherent in norm adoption, this chapter elaborates the ways in which governments strategically adapt transitional justice to advance state impunity. In making this argument I identify a growing global norm of accountability for human rights violations putting pressure on governments to hold perpetrators of wrongdoings to account. Adhering to international norms can carry domestic risks, particularly in cases where governments are culpable for wrongdoings. In responding to the risks of accountability, governments strategically adapt transitional justice to comply with international norms. I identify three strategies that governments use to advance impunity while seemingly complying with international norms, namely coercion, containment, and concession. These strategies are selected based on a government’s ability to control its norm response. The chapter closes with a discussion of the research methodology of the book and ethical considerations.

Post-genocide Rwanda serves as a case of strong institutional control in which the government engages transitional justice through a strategy of coercion. In this chapter I explore the Rwandan government’s response to international pressure for accountability. To advance government impunity, the government adopts a strategy of coercion, wherein a new transitional justice institution, gacaca, is implemented but subsequently monitored and controlled to advance state impunity and consolidate RPF control. The chapter begins with an overview of armed conflict in Rwanda with particular attention on the complexities of the violence experienced by individuals during the civil war, genocide, and at the hands of the RPF. I then discuss the government’s strategic adaptation of transitional justice to identify and evaluate the coercive strategy in which claims for government accountability are monitored and controlled. I explore the strategy of coercion in practice through an in-depth analysis of gacaca, which has aggressively pursued crimes of genocide while ignoring RPF abuses. To explore the coercion strategy beyond the case of Rwanda, I examine transitional justice in Burundi.

Northern Ireland typifies a highly constrained government. In this case, institutional constraints on the British government lead to a strategy of concession in which transition justice is offered to appease the demands of strong domestic constituencies without a genuine attempt to reckon with past wrongdoings by the British state. By engaging transitional justice for some emblematic cases and not others, the government further propagates the sectarian divisions that legitimate British control. The chapter begins with a discussion of the conflict in Northern Ireland and outlines the wrongdoings committed by the British state. I then evaluate the concessionary strategy that accommodates only certain demands for state accountability. Next is an evaluation of that strategy in practice through a focus on public inquiries and the Historical Enquiries Team. These mechanisms showcase the way certain events and experiences have been thoroughly investigated and adjudicated while other incidents have been obstructed or ignored. To explore the strategy beyond Northern Ireland, I examine transitional justice in the Central African Republic.

Uganda is a case of midrange institutional control in which transitional justice has been subsumed within existing state institutions through a strategy of containment. In this chapter I present the Ugandan government’s strategy wherein transitional justice is enmeshed within existing structures of power, which allows the government to monitor and control the risks of norm compliance. The chapter begins with a discussion of the history of armed conflict in Uganda, particularly the war against the Lord’s Resistance Army and the government’s abuse of Acholi civilians. I then examine the government’s adaptation of transitional justice to identify and evaluate the containment strategy in which the risks of accountability are managed by integrating transitional justice into government institutions controlled through patronage, functionally rendering impunity for the state. I explore the containment strategy through three components of transitional justice in Uganda: International Crimes Division, state-regulated customary justice practices, and the National Transitional Justice Policy. To explore the strategy beyond the case of Uganda, I examine transitional justice in Côte d’Ivoire.

In this introductory chapter I present the core tension in the study of transitional justice: the frequent failure of transitional justice to bring justice to victims of state violence. I question how governments escape justice in the age of accountability. The strategies through which a government adapts transitional justice to manage potentially risky demands for accountability have implications for who is held responsible for the atrocities of the past, a central factor for political order itself. This chapter engages the literature on norm compliance to situate my theory of strategic adaptation.

The findings of this book offer suggestions for future research as well as new directions for advocacy. The concluding chapter of the book presents a research agenda for understanding the strategic adaptation of international norms. The chapter also suggests policy prescriptions for those committed to advancing the accountability of states and holding government perpetrators of violence accountable for their actions.

Affordable access to quality health and care is generally recognised as a basic human need and one of the grand challenges society currently faces, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the focus on public health is driving a predominantly human-centric approach to One Health initiatives. Furthermore, the concerted reliance on innovation and technology-driven solutions may exacerbate the problem. Without the appropriate legal and policy framework to incentivise and capture the social value of research and innovation, there is a risk the resulting solutions will fail to achieve the balance between animal, environment, and human health. This chapter presents a legally supported approach, informed by the intellectual property framework and the policy objectives of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Value-Based Health and Care (VBHC) principles, to support the implementation of a true One Health framework. This enables the development of legal tools that will give credibility, legitimacy, and accountability to the design, development, and implementation of a sustainable One Health framework through meaningful and inclusive societal engagement.