| My Master's thesis is based on three months of field research in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo where I studied a form of customary justice called baraza. My research goal was to explore if and how baraza contributes to building the rule of law. Typically, the rule of law programming is technocratic, top-down, state-centric and based on Western political and philosophical traditions.;I advance a more contextualized understanding that acknowledges the importance of history, politics, culture and customary forms of justice. My alternative definition 'peace-based rule of law' (PBROL)—is founded in structural and cultural peace, otherwise known as positive peace. Following from its role in contributing to positive peace, PBROL is also defined by the following characteristics: (1) an anti-colonial ethos that precludes the external imposition of one size fits all programming, (2) legal pluralism, including the recognition of different arbiters of justice, and (3) social responsiveness. |
