An Assessment of Traditional Justice and Reconciliation in Uganda: Experiences and Lessons from West Nile, Acholi, and Teso

In September 2014, the Uganda Transitional Justice Working group released the draft national transitional Justice (TJ) policy which identified traditional justice mechanisms as one of the key approaches to dealing with large scale human rights violations. However, prior to the draft policy, traditional justice mechanisms had already been employed among the local communities in Northern Uganda to facilitate reintegration and reconciliation despite criticisms concerning its application and impact. The Juba Peace agreement (2007) and the draft National TJ Policy served to validate the significance of traditional justice approaches in addressing the complex justice needs. Despite a strong case for the traditional mechanisms, it still faces the challenges of not being broadly recognised and regulated and its role in the justice toolkit remains largely unclear. This project therefore focuses on linking the traditional justice practices to the justice needs. It will undertake a qualitative inquiry into the experiences from three regions in Uganda emphasising its application for contemporary justice needs.