The Battlefield of Transitional Justice in Taiwan: A Relational View

Abstract

This chapter describes how Taiwan tackles the issue of transitional justice with a dynamic approach. When assessing the progress of transitional justice, instead of taking a singular top-down or bottom-up perspective, we argue that it is important to grasp the interactive nature of the relationship between state and society. That is to say, any transitional justice mechanisms implemented are the outcomes of the interaction between government and grassroots actors. This chapter outlines the achievements so far and discusses the structural factors that have shaped the situation. The establishment of the National Human Rights Museum and the dispute over nominations for Constitutional Court Justices are taken as examples to show the interactive nature of policy and institutional design. This chapter ends by showing the implications of Taiwan’s case in scholarship and praxis.