Laurie Nathan, professor of the practice of mediation and Mediation Program director at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, has published an article on post-conflict constitutions (PCCs) in Third World Quarterly. Nathan's research illustrates that when intra-state armed conflicts end through negotiated settlement, conflict parties frequently agree to amend or replace the country’s constitution.
"Their aim is to definitively end the conflict and prevent a recurrence of violence by entrenching the settlement, addressing the conflict incompatibility, reforming institutions and formalizing respect for human rights and the rule of law," said Nathan.
Given this reality, Nathan argues that PCCs should be understood as peace agreements. Since a PCC has the status of supreme law, it supersedes any preceding peace accords reached by the parties.
The Third World Quarterly article follows Nathan’s two earlier papers on PCCs, published by the Berghof Foundation in 2019 and by swisspeace in 2019.