Political, material and ideological conditions that make transitional justice possible: General reflections on the limits of this form of justice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46502/issn.2792-3681/2025.8.11Keywords:
transitional justice, human rights, limits of justice, conditions of possibility, critical thinkingAbstract
Historically, transitional justice has meant a particular practice of justice that responds to political transitions that seek to overcome different conflicts, characterized by the systematic violation of human rights. In this sense, the general objective of this essay was to analyze the conditions of possibility (political, material and ideological-cultural) that are required, in each time and space, to make possible and successful an experience of transitional justice. It is concluded that transitional justice is not an end, but a process of collective reinvention that requires courage to question paradigms and creativity to imagine institutions capable of healing wounds without erasing scars. Its true success is valued in societies where human dignity ceases to be an aspiration and becomes a daily practice in the lifeworld’s of ordinary people.
References
Anderson, B. (2006). Comunidades imaginadas Reflexiones sobre el origen y difusión del nacionalismo. Ciudad de México: Fondo de cultura económica.
Calvano Cabezas, L. (2018). Contrato social y modernidad política en Colombia. Cabimas: Fondo editorial de la UNERMB.
Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. (2020). Los mártires de la guerra. https://centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/tag/testimonios/
Charria-García, F. (2020). La reparación cultural: un avance ineludible en la justicia transicional. Omnia. Derecho y sociedad, (3), 37-54. https://revistas.ucasal.edu.ar/index.php/RO/article/view/313/286
De Zubiría, N. (2019). Los modelos de justicia transicional en América Latina y el caso colombiano. Corporación Excelencia en la Justicia. https://cej.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Justicia-transicional-en-América-Latina.pdf
De Greiff, P. (2009). 'Articulating the Links Between Transitional Justice and Development: Justice and Social Integration', in de Greiff, P. and Duthie, R. (eds.) Transitional Justice and Development: Making Connections. International Center for Transitional Justice and Social Science Research Council, New York, pp 28-75. https://gsdrc.org/document-library/articulating-the-links-between-transitional-justice-and-development-justice-and-social-integration/
EU. (2015). The EU’s Policy Framework on support to transitional justice. https://acortar.link/gtkPNC
Faúndez Carril, J., & González, I. (2023). La justicia restaurativa como mecanismo de la justicia transicional para el tratamiento de conflictos armados. Revista Chilena de Derecho y Ciencia Política, 14(1), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.7770/rchdcp-V14N1-art318
Fernández, F. M. (2018). Genocidio y otros crímenes atroces. Caracas: Editorial Livrosca, C.A. ISBN: 978-980-378-185-9.
Guzmán Rodríguez, D. E., Valencia Cortés, P. A., Molano Ayala, P. F., & Villalba, R. (2023). Las reparaciones ¿Es imposible pagarlas? El caso de la política de reparación a sobrevivientes de violencia sexual y víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia. Dejusticia. https://www.dejusticia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Las-reparaciones-Doc86_web-1.pdf
Justiceinfo. NET. (S/D). Gambia’s Truth Commission puts a price on reparations. https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/80683-gambia-truth-commission-price-reparations.html
Mazower, M. (2020). Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century. London: Penguin.
Ministerio de Justicia y del Derecho. (2021). Mecanismos de Justicia Transicional. https://www.minjusticia.gov.co/programas-co/justicia-transicional/Paginas/OJTC-Mecanismos-JT.aspx
Naciones Unidas. (2005). Principios Básicos de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho a un Recurso y Reparación. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/basic-principles-and-guidelines-right-remedy-and-reparation
Reinoso, G. (2022). Más de 450,000 muertos: informe final de la Comisión de la Verdad revela el saldo devastador del conflicto armado en Colombia. Univisión noticias: https://www.univision.com/noticias/america-latina/informe-comision-verdad-colombia-impacto-muertos-cifras-sugerencias-conflicto-armado
Reyes, M.S.R. (2015). Memoria histórica desde la perspectiva de los derechos de las víctimas en la Justicia Transicional. Análisis comparado en Colombia y España. Cátedra Unesco y Cátedra Infancia: justicia transicional y memoria histórica, (1), 99-129. https://doi.org/10.4000/books.uec.870
Serna, J. G. G., & Ramírez, A. L. M. (2018). Memoria Histórica y Justicia Transicional. Revista Fuerzas Armadas, (240), 16-25.
Sottas, E. (2008). Transitional justice and sanctions. International Review of the Red Cross, 90(870), 371-398. https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc-870_12.pdf
Southey, S. K. (2025). Building Reparations: Key Factors for Success in Transitional Justice Efforts. International Journal of Transitional Justice, (ijaf004), 25-39. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijaf004
Teitel, R. G. (2003). Transitional Justice Genealogy. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 19, 69-94. https://acortar.link/0ANF6R
Teitel, R., & Vegh Weis, V. (2024). Transitional Justice and Human Rights. New Yorw Law School, (1661), 460-484. https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2667&context=fac_articles_chapters
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2025). About transitional justice and human rights. https://acortar.link/aaAyKR
The Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS). (2016). Designing transitional justice: Problems of planning political & institutional change in volatile political contexts. Elliott School of International Affairs: https://acortar.link/vJDzuK
Unión Europea. (2019). Unión Europea anuncia fondos para el Sistema Integral de Verdad, Justicia, Reparación y No Repetición. https://www.eeas.europa.eu/node/61015_es
Uprimny, R., Saffon, M. P., Botero, C., & Restrepo, E. (2006). ¿Justicia transicional sin transición? Verdad, justicia y reparación para Colombia. Ediciones Antropos. https://www.jep.gov.co/Sala-de-Prensa/Documents/Justicia%20transicional%20sin%20transición.pdf
Vasilachis de Gialdino, I. (1999). La construcción de las representaciones sociales Discurso político y prensa escrita. Buenos Aires: Dedisa editorial.
Villa, H. V., & Joinet, L. (2008). Introducción a la justicia transicional. Claves de razón práctica, 180, 76-82.
Villasmil Espinoza, J. (2023). Liderazgo político y conformación del estado democrático venezolano (1945-1999). Maracaibo: Ediciones Clio.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Juan Pablo Monroy Lancheros

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
The authors retain copyright and guarantee the journal the right to be the first publication where the article is presented, which is published under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows others to share the work prior to acknowledgment of the authorship of the article. work and initial publication in this journal.
Authors may separately enter into additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (for example, placing it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.