Reparations and International Law: How are Reparations to be Determined (Past Wrong or Current Effects), Against Whom, and What Form Should They Take?

Source: (2007) In Max du Plessis and Stephen Pete, ed., Repairing the Past? International Perspectives on Reparations for Gross Human Rights Abuses. Oxford, UK: Intersentia. Pp. 147-177.

“This chapter discusses reparation for slavery as a vehicle for broader discussion about reparation claims for past injustices. The perspective is that of an international lawyer. In the context of slavery reparation, as it the case with many other contexts involving reparation claims for mass atrocities, international law principles are engaged and often expressly relied upon. As we shall see in the slavery context, for instance, African States are claiming reparation against Western States, and are casting their claims in the language of international law – State responsibility, crimes against humanity, genocide – and calling for repartion in the form of restitution, compensation, and/or satisfaction, terms that are reflected in the international law rules on State responsibility.” (abstract)