This course will be divided into two sections.

The first part of the course analyzes transitional justice, i.e. the legal, ethical, conceptual and policy issues confronting societies and governments in dealing with past violence and massive human rights violations committed in the context of undemocratic and repressive regimes. The course explores, in a criminological and historical perspective, the dynamics of collective violence and hate crimes, which occurred in Countries in transition. Moreover, it analyzes the problems that societies face when exploring the different options they have at their disposal to tackle these crimes against humanity, also considering the political, legal, economic and moral ramifications of each choice.

The second part of the course will explore the theory of “state-building” and in particular the reconstruction of state in conflict-torn societies: special attention will be given to the critical steps of drafting, adopting and implementing a new Constitution as well as the fundamental stage of establishing the necessary agencies for the functioning as a state. It then surveys several cases of international state building efforts and analyzes the role of constitution-making in the political and governance transition. In this context the course focuses in particular on the EU’s state building practices in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood