Rebel Governance and National Court Curbing

• In Event: Rebel Governance: Institutions and Behaviors

Abstract

Do rebel judicial processes harm the national judiciary? Literature shows that some rebel groups establish their own judicial processes during civil conflict. These systems of justice offer an alternative to government legal processes and can impact the legitimacy of government courts. This article seeks to expand on existing knowledge of rebel judicial processes and court curbing by examining the association between the use of rebel judicial processes and attacks on the national judiciary. We argue that rebel judicial processes decrease the legitimacy of government courts and this loss of legitimacy leads to increased court curbing such as judicial purges and court packing. Focusing on all intrastate conflicts during the period of 1950 to 2011, our findings show that the presence of rebel judicial processes leads to increased attacks against national courts.

Authors

• Mehwish Sarwari, SUNY Buffalo State

• Keith Blackley