This book brings a new focus to the ongoing debate on holding perpetrators of massive
humanitarian and human rights violations accountable in countries in transition. It provides a
clear-cut and comprehensive legal analysis of the content and nature of a state's obligations
to investigate and prosecute as enshrined in the most important humanitarian and human rights
treaties it disentangles the common fallacy that these procedural obligations are naturally
rooted and clearly spelled out in the general human rights treaties and it explains the flaws
in an absolutist interpretation. This analysis serves to understand whether such procedural
obligations if narrowly construed act as impediments to countries emerging from periods of
conflict or systematic repression in the face of contingent circumstances and the formidable
dilemmas raised by a univocal understanding of justice as retribution. Exploring the latest
instances of interpretation and application via an analysis of state practice the
jurisprudence of treaty bodies international courts and tribunals soft law instruments and
doctrinal contributions the book also addresses the complex issue of amnesty and other
transitional justice mechanisms designed to restore peace and facilitate transition
traditionally included in national reconciliation programs and criticizes the contention that
amnesty is always prohibited by international law. It also considers these problems from the
viewpoint of the International Criminal Court focusing on the cases of Uganda and Colombia
after the 2016 peace agreement. Lastly the volume offers a detailed analysis of techniques
that may neutralize relevant obligations under international law such as denunciation
derogation limitation and the public international law defenses of force majeure and
necessity. Drawing attention to the importance of a multidisciplinary and practical approach to
these unsettling questions and endorsing a pluralistic notion of accountability the book will
appeal to legal scholars and transitional justice experts as well as practitioners human
rights advocates and government officials. Dr Jacopo Roberti di Sarsina is an International
Law Expert at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna School of Law and a
dual-qualified lawyer (Italy and New York). He completed a PhD in public international law
label Doctor Europaeus at the School of International Studies University of Trento holds an
LLM from NYU School of Law and read law at the University of Bologna.
