Overgangsrettferdighet etter 22. juli

This edited volume asks what justice after terror entails and explores forms and ideas of justice that emerged among various (state, civil society and community) actors after the July 22 attacks. Setting the stage for answering this question, this introductory chapter outlines a transitional justice framework for the study of justice, reconciliation, and their meanings. The Norwegian state has largely responded to the extraordinary nature of the July 22 attack with ordinary measures. The chapter suggests that a transitional justice approach to the variety of legal, political, and social processes and mechanisms implemented in response to the terror attack enables a broader perspective on what justice is and can entail beyond its legal forms. Traditionally deployed in the context of war and post-conflict, and in the transition from dictatorship and authoritarianism to democracy, transitional justice mechanisms include retributive, restorative, and truth-seeking aspects. Focus is given to state accountability for atrocities and oppression. While the political context of terror is different, the plight of civilian victims is urgent, and the need for societal reconciliation is persistent. Contributing to the emergent scholarship linking transitional justice to post-terror settlements, and also to the literature on transitional justice in the Norwegian context, this chapter sets out criminal accountability, victim participation and economic compensation, factfinding commissions, institutional reform, and memorial work as the basic tenets of transitional justice after terror.