Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Politics Of Decentralizing Criminal Justice Systems In Postconflict Societies: Insights From Liberia (2011-2017), Samuel Opoku-Agyakwa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After the end of Liberia’s brutal 14 year civil war, the process of rebuilding Liberia has focused on a number of interventions including reforming the criminal justice system. In the current study, institutional, policy, legal reform, and infrastructure development were the approaches used to decentralize Liberia’s Criminal Justice System. Thirty experts were interviewed, and their responses coded using NVivo 12.0. Seven themes and 25 subthemes emerged from the data. It was that found that a top down internationally led approach with minimal involvement of local communities and the neglect of the traditional justice system characterized the decentralization process. Results also …