Since the end of the 1980’s transitional justice has emerged not only as a set of post-conflict policies and knowledge but also as a space of activity for scholars, NGOs activists from the North and the South, lawyers and experts. The aim of the communication is to understand the constitution of this international milieu, emphasizes on the renewed conception of justice build up and promoted by these actors: though a comprehensive post-conflict justice is publicly promoted, victims’ rehabilitation and reparations distribution prevail over torturers’ trials and judgment. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRC) symbolize this bypassing of justice where political stakes such as pacification and reconciliation prevail on the course of justice. Then, the paper draws upon the transformation of highly internationalized spheres of activity: defense of human rights, "conflict resolution" (as an academic subject and a sphere of activity) which proposes some of their beliefs to actors moving between politics, expertise and universities. It shows how the increased juridicization of the model owes more to the social and professional resources of experts than to any conversion to criminal law when it comes to deal with a past of violence. The authors have drawn their conclusions from different empirical inquiries: observation in various places of the International Center on Transitional Justice (the most important transitional justice NGO) efforts to work with local governments or “civil society” as well as to train international organizations staff, and an analysis of the trajectories of its proper staff, board and interns.
