Mitchell Institute Deputy Director, Professor Louise Mallinder has published version two of her ground-breaking amnesties database in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh’s Peace and Conflict Resolution Platform (PeaceRep).

The Amnesties, Conflict and Peace Agreement Database is a ground-breaking database providing open-access, qualitative descriptions of key themes relating to the enactment process, scope, conditions, legal effects, and implementation processes of amnesty laws, which are enacted around the world for crimes committed in connection with armed conflicts.

Version 2 of the database updates the data to cover amnesties enacted from 2016 to 2023. The database now contains information on 320 amnesties introduced as a result of ongoing conflict, as part of peace negotiations, or in postconflict periods from January 1990 to December 2023 in all world regions. Professor Mallinder is grateful to Dr Daniel Odin Shaw for his work on this data update.

For conflict mediators and societies that are grappling with ending armed conflict, this data resource can provide models of how amnesty processes can be designed. This is particularly useful for showing that amnesties do not necessarily always entail impunity, but rather can have a range of conditions and legal effects that can help the amnesty contribute to the delivery of the peace process, as well as support non-prosecutorial accountability efforts.

This database also enables researchers to identify and analyse broad patterns in amnesty design over time, across regions, or in specific political contexts. In the coming months, Professor Mallinder will publish two policy reports outlining the findings from this database.

Explore the Amnesties, Conflict and Peace Agreement (ACPA) Database.

For more information on the contents of the ACPA database, see Prof. Mallinder’s ACPA codebook.