Transitional justice has been gaining prominence in rebuilding post-conflict societies for the past two decades. Transitional justice advocates claim that the dealing with the past measures applied in a country have to be locally-owned, victim-centred and participative in order to be effective. One mechanism to involve victims and the general population in transitional justice processes are so-called national consultations. The United Nations developed, within their series of rule-of-law tools, guidance for such national consultations on transitional justice. They should allow people affected by past violence to express their views in order to identify their needs and to be agents in a transitional justice process. In order to enhance the appropriation of dealing with the past measures, to collect the views of the Burundians, and to take them into account in designing the transitional justice mechanisms, national consultations were conducted in Burundi. This article critically assesses them in the light of giving agency to the population in the design and conduct of the country’s dealing with the past process. Based on interviews with persons who have been consulted it appraises the national consultation process and its stated goals. Do people feel that they and their views are represented? Could the national consultations contribute to the appropriation of the transitional justice mechanisms? Moreover it looks at how the views expressed have influenced the design of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which is supposed to start in February 2012 and more generally have been taken into account in the dealing with the past process.
