Right to Land, Housing, and Property

Abstract

The enforcement of economic, social, and cultural rights is often neglected in transitions from conflict to peace. Reconstruction programmes and initiatives of justice in post-conflict situations are still based on the paradigms of state security and criminal prosecution. However, there is a trend to recognize the importance of safeguarding the right of refugees and displaced persons to restitution of land, housing and property so that they can return to their homes and places of residence in safe and dignified conditions, with the aim of promoting the rule of law and achieving a just and lasting peace. The chapter shows the need to deepen and advance the empowerment of the right to restitution as a principle of jus post bellum in order to attain a just and sustainable peace. It claims that jus post bellum should promote ‘positive peace’.