Law, Governance and Development: A Case Study of Women’s Social Mobilisation and Transitional Justice

Law, Governance and Development: A Case Study of Women’s Social Mobilisation and Transitional Justice

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Policy points:
• A factor for the success of women’s civil socitey interventions into transitional justice processes is the openness of the domestic political settlement.
• International law can matter to human rights outcomes for women legally through revisions of domestic laws and constitutions, normatively by filling a legal and normative vacuum, and politically through supporting women’s presence and for women’s movements strategies to engage with domestic process of transitional justice.

Summary: This briefing note addresses the connections between law and governance in post-conflict states, with a particular emphasis on how law connects with social mobilisation to transform governance institutions in societies emerging from conflict or authoritarianism. Using women’s social mobilisation around transitional justice processes (all of which have a specific focus on reform of governance institutions) as a case study, the briefing note illustrates the ways in which international legal norms relating to good government and participation are used by domestic interveners in political settlements, and sets out the factors significant to successful intervention.

Keywords: Law and Governance; Women; Gender; Post-Conflict

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