Rights in divided societies

Colin J. Harvey, Alex Schwartz

"This collection examines the role and value of domestic rights instruments in divided and post-conflict societies, approaching the subject from a comparative and theoretical perspective. Societies emerging from violent conflict often opt for a bill of rights as part of a wider package of constitutional reform. Where conflict is fuelled by long-standing ethno-national divisions, these divisions are often addressed through group-differentiated rights. Recent constitutional settlements have highlighted the difficulties in drafting a bill of rights in divided/post-conflict societies, where the aim of promoting unity is frequently in tension with the need to accommodate difference. Similar controversies continue to play out in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Northern Ireland. In such cases, a bill of rights might be a rallying point around which both minorities and the majority can articulate a...