Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more

Recommended product

Popular links

Popular links


Escaping Justice

Escaping Justice

Escaping Justice

Impunity for State Crimes in the Age of Accountability
Cyanne E. Loyle, Pennsylvania State University
July 2025
Paperback
9781009584968

    Now more than ever the international community plays a central role in pressing governments to hold their own to account. Despite pressure to adhere to global human rights norms, governments continue to benefit from impunity for their past crimes. In an age of accountability, how do states continue to escape justice? This book presents a theory of strategic adaptation which explains the conditions under which governments adopt transitional justice without a genuine commitment to holding state forces to account. Cyanne E. Loyle develops this theory through in-depth fieldwork from Rwanda, Uganda, and Northern Ireland conducted over the last ten years. Research in each of these cases reveals a unique strategy of adaption: coercion, containment, and concession. Using evidence from these cases, Loyle traces the conditions under which a government pursues its chosen strategies and the resulting transitional justice outcomes. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

    • This book burgeons from the author's personal commitment to better understand how to hold state perpetrators of human rights violations to account for their actions and, in doing so, how to reduce human rights violations against civilians
    • Introduces a theory of strategic adaptation which applies to a wide range of international norms
    • Features case studies; interviews and focus groups with government elites, NGO and legal professionals, rebel group members and opposition leaders; archival material; human rights and NGO reports; and news reporting
    • This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

    Reviews & endorsements

    'Cyanne E. Loyle explores why transnational justice, even while it 'works' has often failed to ensure that states are held accountable for crimes against their own citizens. Even with widespread diffusion of transitional justice mechanisms, Loyle shows us how and why it is fundamental to pay attention to whose justice is served. Beautifully written and theoretically insightful, Escaping Justice illuminates not only transitional justice, but a central and enduring problem in efforts to defend human security.' Susan D. Hyde, Robson Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley

    'Loyle uses a fascinating array of fieldwork data to shed light on the effect of transitional justice on victims. While making some citizens feel recognized and welcome in participating in the post-conflict regime, it makes others feel as if they have been left out. Moreover, governments are capable of dispatching transitional justice procedures strategically in ways that help them become further entrenched in power. The stories Loyle tells from the victims' perspective make this book a real page-turner.  But the ease with which this book is read should not distract from its social science value. It will no doubt allow the Peace Science community to answer numerous questions about the relationships between domestic and international transitional justice, the occurrence of transitional justice under authoritarian regimes, and just how skewed processes of transitional justice really are.' Monika Nalepa, Professor, Department of Political Science, The University of Chicago

    'This rigorously researched and engagingly written book offers a compelling explanation for why some perpetrators of gross human rights violations are prosecuted and why some escape justice. Loyle's extensive fieldwork and innovative methodology make her conclusions persuasive and the book an essential contribution to the study of post-conflict justice.' Jelena Subotic, Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University

    See more reviews

    Product details

    July 2025
    Paperback
    9781009584968
    223 pages
    229 × 152 mm
    Not yet published - available from July 2025

    Table of Contents

    • Preface and acknowledgements
    • Introduction
    • 1. Escaping justice in the age of accountability
    • 2. Justice and coercion in Rwanda
    • 3. The big tent of justice in Uganda
    • 4. Justice concessions in Northern Ireland
    • Conclusion
    • Appendix 1: Methodology
    • Appendix 2: Elite interview list by case
    • Bibliography
    • Index.
      Author
    • Cyanne E. Loyle , Pennsylvania State University

      Cyanne E. Loyle is the Political Science Board of Visitors Early Career Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University and a Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). She is also the co-Director of the Northern Ireland Research Initiative and co-creator of the Post-Conflict Justice (PCJ) and During-Conflict Justice (DCJ) databases. Her work has been funded by the US National Science Foundation, the Norwegian Research Council, and the US Institute of Peace, and published in venues such as Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Human Rights, Journal of Peace Research and Perspectives on Politics. Her website is www.cyanneloyle.com.