Christopher B. Mahony
Christopher B. Mahony is Research Fellow at the Centre for International Law Research and Policy. He is also Visiting Research Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, and Political Economy Adviser at the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank, where he was formerly Criminal Justice and Citizen Security Specialist from 2014 to 2015. He holds Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) and of Laws (LL.B.) degrees from the University of Otago, and a Master’s in African Studies (M.Sc.) and a D.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford. He was admitted to the bar of the High Court of New Zealand in 2006 where he appeared for the Crown in criminal and refugee matters. From 2015 to 2018 he has acted as consultant adviser to UNDP reviewing policy approaches to conflict prevention, context-specific rule of law programming, and transitional justice. From 2012 to 2013, he was Deputy Director of the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights Law, Policy and Practice, Faculty of Law, Auckland University. In 2008, he directed the Witness Evaluation Legacy Project at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. In 2003, he drafted the recommendations on governance and corruption for the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and co-authored the ‘Historical antecedents to the conflict’ chapter. He has advised the International Criminal Court, the British, Nepali and US governments, the International Centre for Transitional Justice, Bain and Company, USAID, and the Open Society Initiative, on political economy, international justice, security, transitional justice and justice sector reform. He has published on international criminal justice, transitional justice, geopolitical affairs and domestic justice sector reform.
Some publications of Christopher B. Mahony:
"The Justice Sector Afterthought: Witness Protection in Africa", Institute for Security Studies, Pretoria, 2010. Cited by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence.
"Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone", Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015 (co-editor with Kirsten Ainley and Rebekkah Freidman).
"A ‘slippery fish’: The differential application of human rights obligations to the settlement of refugees in the ‘Group of Five’ States", (special edition of) International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2016 (4) (co-editor with Mary Crock and Farida Fozdar).
"A Case Selection Independence Framework for Tracing Historical Interests’ Manifestation in International Criminal Justice", in Morten Bergsmo, CHEAH Wui Ling, SONG Tianying and YI Ping (editors): “Historical Origins of International Criminal Law: Volume 4”, Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Brussels, 2015, pp. 865-903.
"If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu: Complementarity and Self-Interest in Domestic Processes for Core International Crimes", in Morten Bergsmo and SONG Tianying (editors): "Military Self-Interest in Accountability for Core International Crimes", Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Brussels, 2015, pp. 229-260.
"Transitional Justice in Sierra Leone: Theory, History and Evaluation", in Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Freidman and Chris Mahony (editors): "Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone", Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015 (with Kirsten Ainley and Rebekka Friedman).
"A Political Tool? The Politics of Case Selection at the Special Court for Sierra Leone", in Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Freidman and Chris Mahony (editors): "Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone", Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015.
"The Truth about the Truth: Insider Reflections on the TRC" in Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Freidman and Chris Mahony (editors): "Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone", Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015 (co-author with Yasmin Sooka).
"The Potential and Politics of Transitional Justice: Interactions between the Global and the Local in Evaluations of Success", in Kirsten Ainley, Rebekka Freidman and Chris Mahony (editors): "Evaluating Transitional Justice: Accountability and Peacebuilding in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone", Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015 (co-author with Ainley and Friedman).
"Witness Sensitive Practices in International Fact-Finding Outside Criminal Justice: Lessons for Nepal", in Morten Bergsmo (editor): "Quality Control in Fact-Finding", Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Florence, 2013, pp. 225-278. Reviewed by James G. Devaney in European Journal of International Law 25 (2014), 355–359; by Gunnar Ekeløve-Slydal in Nordic Journal of Human Rights 32 (2014), pp. 192-195. Cited by UN Special Rapporteur’s report to the Human Rights Council and by the joint UN-World Bank Report on Conflict prevention.
"Prioritising International Sex Crimes before the Special Court for Sierra Leone: Another Instrument of Political Manipulation?", in Morten Bergsmo (editor): "Thematic Prosecution of International Sex Crimes", Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Beijing, 2012, pp.59-84 Reviewed by Christian Ranheim in Nordic Journal of Human Rights 31:1 (2013), pp. 108-109; by Amanda H. Blair in Journal of Peace Research 49(6) p. 873; by Fletch Williams in Leiden Journal of International Law 26:3 pp. 772-776; by Nyasha Karimakwenda in Yale Journal of International Affairs, Oct. 16, 2013, 1 of 5; by Stéphanie Bürgenmeier in Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 47 (2014), pp. 305-306.
"The Justice Pivot: US International Criminal Law Influence from Outside the ICC", Georgetown Journal of International Law, 2015, 46(4) .
"Sierra Leone: The Justice v. Reconciliation Archetype?", Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, FICHL Policy Brief Series No. 33, Brussels, 2015.
"Aspirational yet precarious: New Zealand refugee settlement policy’s compliance with international human rights obligations", in Mary Crock, Farida Fozdar and Chris Mahony (editors), "A ‘slippery fish’: The differential application of human rights obligations to the settlement of refugees in the ‘Group of Five’ States", (special edition of) International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2016 (4) (with Jay Marlowe, Natalie Baird and Louise Humpage).
"International Criminal Justice Case Selection Independence: An ICJ Barometer", FICHL Policy Brief Series No. 58 (2016), Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, Brussels, 2016.
"Where Politics Borders Law: The Malawi-Tanzania Boundary Dispute", New Zealand Centre for Human Rights, Africa Working Paper Series, Working Paper 21 February 2014 (with Hannah Clark, Meghan Bolwell, Tom Simcock, Richard Potter and JIA Meng).
"Review of ‘Rescuing a Fragile State: Sierra Leone 2002–2008’", edited by L. Gberie Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Ontario, 2009. See also Journal of Modern African Studies, 50 (3) 2012 (review).
