Evaluating the Success of Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone and Beyond

There has been a great deal of academic work undertaken recently that attempts to appraise the success of transitional justice (TJ) in various post-Conflict states. However, there is little agreement on what counts as success and how it should be measured or judged. The other chapters in this book consider the extent to which Sierra Leone’s TJ processes should be considered a success. I take a step back to focus instead on what we mean by ‘success’ when assessing the impacts of TJ efforts and to examine the problems involved in evaluating transitional justice. My aim is not to provide a Definition of success, as to do so would be impossible, for reasons set out below. Rather, I hope to provoke readers to consider afresh what should count as TJ success and how it should be evaluated.