Speaker: Professor Louise Mallinder (Queen’s University Belfast)
Chair: Professor Marsha Henry (Queen’s University Belfast)

In this Research Workshop, Professor Louise Mallinder will discuss the themes and findings emerging from her current book project.  This project uses original empirical data on state practice to examine whether a norm has evolved in international law to prohibit the use of amnesties for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations.

The book responds to conflicting views on the legality of amnesties expressed by international judges.  It asks: Is there an international norm prohibiting amnesties for international crimes and serious human rights violations? If so, is it an emerging norm, or has it become a crystallized legal norm with binding effects? And what are the contents of this norm? Does it forbid the use of any form of amnesty for serious violations irrespective of context, or does it have exceptions that allow for amnesty provided certain conditions are met?  

The salience of these questions from a legal perspective is evident if we consider that in 2004, the Special Court of Sierra Leone proclaimed that there was a ‘crystallizing international norm’ to prohibit states from enacting amnesties for serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.  This language suggests the Court’s perception that the international law on amnesties was changing and indicates the Court’s preferred outcome.  However, in 2020, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court argued that ‘international law is still in the developmental stage on the question of acceptability of amnesties,’ suggesting that the Special Court of Sierra Leone’s anticipated future for amnesties has not yet definitively come to pass.

Attendees will read select chapters of the book in advance of the Workshop.

Professor Louise Mallinder

Professor Mallinder is the Deputy Director and Theme Lead for Legacy at the Mitchell Institute.  Louise is also Professor of Law in the School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast.  Her research interests relate to the fields of international human rights law, international criminal law, and law and politics in political transitions.

Professor Marsha Henry

Professor Marsha Henry is the Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in Women, Peace, Security and Justice.  Her research is concerned with the gendered and racialised politics of violence; militarisation; global south development; international aid and intervention; and conflict, peace, and security.  She is the author of several books, the latest of which is: The End of Peacekeeping:  Gender, Race, and the Martial Politics of Intervention (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024).

Marsha has also advised a number of national governments on women’s participation in the armed forces, combatting sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian settings, and developing anti-racist and diversity strategies in foreign policy ministries.