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Brianne McGonigle Leyh

Associate Professor of Human Rights and Social Justice
Ultrecht University
The Netherlands
[email protected]

Read Brianne’s November 2020 Spotlight on Language, Culture and Justice.

I am an associate professor of law, specializing in human rights and global justice issues, with a focus on victims’ rights, transitional justice, social justice and the documentation of serious crimes. My PhD research on victim participation in international criminal proceedings was the first of many research projects examining the implementation of human rights norms in judicial and quasi-judicial institutions.

I delved into the challenges of carrying out complex criminal accountability processes across cultures and languages. It won two awards, including the 2013 book of the year award for the American branch of the International Association of Penal Law.

After completing my PhD in 2011, I wanted to expand my research beyond international criminal law. As a result, I began looking into the role of law and policy in facilitating or hindering greater social justice within postconflict and transitional settings, including criminal courts, truth commissions and reparation processes.

Presently, my work predominantly concerns issues around human rights and global justice, namely how compliance and accountability structures can better adapt and respond successfully when dealing with serious conflict situations. Though predominantly legal, I employ a cross-disciplinary methodological approach to much of my research, drawing upon empirical research methods, including interviews and observation, from the humanities and social sciences.

I am currently co-editing a book project, with Julie Fraser, looking at the intersections of law and culture and the International Criminal Court. Questions of “culture” raise important issues for the ICC and its international reach and universal appeal. These questions range from the substantive charges brought against the accused and their defenses, to the operation of the criminal process, the scope and content of reparations, and even the organizational culture that impacts the day-to-day functioning of the court.

However, these questions often remain unaddressed, as culture is so deeply embedded in people’s identity and consciousness that strong cultural codes can easily be overlooked or mistaken as objective or neutral by those positioned within their frameworks. The book aims to bring together insights on the development and articulation of ideas regarding the multifaceted ways in which culture relates to the work of the court and provide recommendations to the court as it develops in the future.

Areas of Interest

  • Transitional justice
  • Reparations
  • International criminal law
  • Victims’ rights
  • Culture and law

Relevant Publications

  • B. McGonigle Leyh, ‘Unable to See the Forest for the Trees: Transitional Justice in the United States of America’, in Tine Destrooper, et al., eds., Transitional Justice in Aparadigmatic Contexts, Routledge (2023)
  • J. Fraser and B. McGonigle Leyh, ‘Introduction’, in J. Fraser and B. McGonigle Leyh, eds., Intersections of Law and Culture at the International Criminal Court, Edward Elgar (2020).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, ‘“We Will Let It Die on Its Own”: Culture, Ideology, and Power at Play Between the United States and the International Criminal Court’, in J. Fraser and B. McGonigle Leyh, eds., Intersections of Law and Culture at the International Criminal Court, Edward Elgar (2020).
  • E. Butti and B. McGonigle Leyh, “Intersectionality and Transformative Reparations: The Case of Colombian Marginal Youths,” 19 International Criminal Law Review 1 (2019).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh and J. Fraser, “Transformative Reparations: Changing the Game or More of the Same?” 8 Cambridge International Law Journal 39 (2019) (not yet available via open access).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, “Pragmatism Over Principles: The International Criminal Court and a Human Rights-Based Approach to Judicial Interpretation,” 41 Fordham International Law Journal, 697 (2018).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, “The Socialization of Transitional Justice: Expanding Justice Theories Within the Field,” 9 Human Rights and International Legal Discourse 83 (2017).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, “Changing Landscapes in Documentation Efforts: Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations,” 33 Utrecht Journal of International and European Law 44 (2017).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, “National and Hybrid Tribunals. Benefits and Challenges,” 115-138, in P. Malcontent, ed., Facing the Past: Amending Historical Injustices Through Instruments of Transitional Justice, Intersentia (2016) (not available online).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, “Victim-Oriented Measures at International Criminal Institutions: Participation and Its Pitfalls,” 12 International Criminal Law Review 375 (2012) [34 pages] (available through HeinOnline; free access).
  • B. McGonigle Leyh, Procedural Justice? Victim Participation in International Criminal Proceedings, Intersentia (August 2011).

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