Professor Cheryl Lawther
Professor
School of Law, The Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice
Professor Cheryl Lawther is a world leading expert in dealing with the aftermath of conflict and human rights abuses.
Cheryl Lawther is Professor of Transitional Justice and Director of Research in the School of Law, and a Fellow of the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.
She is an internationally recognised expert in the field of transitional justice and has published extensively on truth recovery and dealing with the past, victims / survivors, ex-combatants, reparations and the use of atrocity sites. Her current research interests including ongoing work on conflict-related sexual violence and the politics of dead bodies.
Professor Lawther’s key books include Truth, Denial and Transition: Northern Ireland and the Contested Past (Routledge, 2014) and Constructing Victimhood: Beyond Innocence and Guilt in Transitonal Justice (Oxford University Press, 2025).
Fields
Law Northern Ireland Social JusticeAreas of Expertise
transitional justice, conflict transformation, dealing with the past, truth recovery/truth commissions, victims / survivors, armed groups, dark tourism, use of atrocity sites.
Media Experience
Professor Lawther has extensive media experience including broadcast, print, online and podcasts.
Notable coverage
- New York Times - 'In Northern Ireland, Embittered Sides Unite In Outrage of New Bill' (October 2023)
- The Conversation UK - Dark tourism can be voyeuristic and exploitative – or if handled correctly, do a world of good (September 2017)
- Commission for Victims and Survivors Northern Ireland podcast - ‘Acknowledgement and Memorialisation: The Next Page: A Podcast by the Commission for Victims and Survivors Northern Ireland. Episode 6.' (2023)