The Mauritian Truth and Justice Commission: legitimacy, political negotiation and the consequences of slavery

We examine the origins, processes and outcomes of the Mauritian Truth and Justice Commission’s (MTJC), examination of slavery, indentured labour and their contemporary effects. It has not been considered a success by any commentator. We therefore ask how far James L. Gibson’s application of legitimacy theory to ‘Truth Commissions’ has purchase in this context and whether it was cynically motivated. We use MTJC documentation, extensive interviews and newspaper reports to show that Gibson’s theory provides insight into MTJC outcomes while demonstrating that politico-economic power structures were crucial. Conversely, the MTJC does not sit easily in Van Zyl’s ‘cynical operation’ category.

This is an Author’s Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Edinburgh University Press in African Journal of International and Comparative Law. The Version of Record is available online at: http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/ajicl.2017.0198