Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
Kieran McEvoy is the Senator George J. Mitchell Chair of Peace, Security and Justice and Professor of Law and Transitional Justice at the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is also currently a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow (Sept 23-Sept 26) working on a project on Apologies, Political Violence and Dealing with the Past.
He has conducted research in over a dozen conflicted or transitional countries contexts on topics including politically motivated prisoners, ex-combatants, victims, amnesties, truth recovery, human rights, restorative justice, apologies and the role of lawyers in conflict transition. He has authored or co-authored four books, co-edited eight books or special issues, a four volume Handbook of Transitional Justice and over seventy journal articles and scholarly book chapters. His research has garnered a number of awards including the British Society of Criminology book of the year award and the Socio-legal Studies Association article of the year, 3 times.
He has held visiting professor positions at the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics, Fordham University Law School and the University of California, Berkeley. He has also been the recipient of a Global Law Fellowship at New York University and spent a year at Harvard Law School as a UK Fulbright Distinguished Research Scholar.
He has conducted a large number of comparative research projects on conflict and the transition from violence in countries including Colombia, South Africa, Chile, Tunisia, Argentina, Uruguay, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Israel, Palestine, Spain and Italy. In recent years these have included a project on Transforming Cultures of Violence from below: A Comparative model of Community-Based Peace-Building (with H. Mika, £270,000-funded by Atlantic Philanthropies) and ‘Beyond Legalism: Amnesties, Transition and Conflict Transformation (with L Mallinder £305,000, AHRC). He was Principal Investigator on another AHRC funded project on Amnesties Prosecution and the Public Interest in Northern Ireland (with L. Mallinder and G. Anthony, £91,482); and an ESRC funded comparative project (Lawyers in Conflict and Transition, £490,000 - with L. Mallinder and A. Bryson). He was also Principal Investigator on an ESRC funded project on Apologies, Abuses & Dealing with the Past (with A.M. McAlinden, A. Bryson, S. Maruna and M. Macarthaigh, £545,838, completed 2022). He was also mentor\Senior Co-Investigator on a number of additional projects including; an AHRC funded project Voice, Agency and Blame: Victimhood and the Imagined Community in Northern Ireland (with C. Lawther PI and L. Dempster, £199,761, completed 2018); an ESRC funded project Truth, Accountability or Impunity? Transitional Justice and the Economic Crisis’ (with I. Kovras PI, S. Wheeler and N. Loizides, £521,000 -completed 2019) and another AHRC funded project Reparations, Responsibility and Victimhood in Transitional Societies (with L. Moffatt, C. Lawther and K. Hearty, £655,198, completed 2022). In addition, he worked as Co-I with Colin Harvey PI, A. Bryson, R. O’Connell (UU) and A. Kramer on an ESRC funded project on Brexit and Northern Ireland: The Constitutional, Conflict Transformation, Human Rights and Equality Consequences (£237,202, completed 2019).
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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R1592SSP: Voice, Agency and Blame: Victimhood and the Imagined Community in Northern Ireland.
Lawther, C. (PI) & McEvoy, K. (CoI)
25/01/2016 → 30/09/2018
Project: Research
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R1531PAI: Truth and justice in the aftermath of economic collapse
Kovras, I. (PI), McEvoy, K. (CoI) & Wheeler, S. (CoI)
23/06/2015 → 30/03/2019
Project: Research
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R1039LAW: Lawyers, Conflict and Transition
McEvoy, K. (PI) & Requa, M. (CoI)
01/08/2011 → 30/11/2016
Project: Research
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R1854LAW: Beyond Legalism: Amnesties Transition & Conflict Transformation
McEvoy, K. (PI)
01/08/2007 → …
Project: Research
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R1101LAW: Amnesties, Prosecution and the Public Interest in the Northern Ireland Transition
McEvoy, K. (PI) & Anthony, G. (CoI)
01/08/2012 → 11/11/2014
Project: Research
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Victims and Transitional Justice: Voice, Agency and Blame
McEvoy, K. & McConnachie, K., Dec 2013, In: Social and Legal Studies. 22, 4, p. 489–513 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
154 Citations (Scopus)18 Downloads (Pure) -
What Did the Lawyers Do During the 'War' ? Neutrality, Conflict and the Culture of Quietism
McEvoy, K., May 2011, In: The Modern Law Review . 74 , 3, p. 350-384 35 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
41 Citations (Scopus)173 Downloads (Pure) -
Amnesties in Transition: Punishment, Restoration, and the Governance of Mercy
McEvoy, K. & Mallinder, L., Sept 2012, In: Journal of Law and Society. 39, 3, p. 410-440 31 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
File65 Citations (Scopus)2259 Downloads (Pure) -
Beyond the Wire: Former Prisoners and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland
Shirlow, P. & McEvoy, K., Jan 2008, Pluto. 185 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Judges, Transition and Human Rights
Morison, J., McEvoy, K. & Anthony, G., 2007, Oxford University Press. 454 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
Prizes
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Article Short-listed for Socio-Legal Studies Association Article of the Year Award
McEvoy, K. (Recipient), 05 Apr 2019
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Article Shortlisted for Socio-Legal Studies Association Article Prize of the Year 2022
Bryson, A. (Recipient) & McEvoy, K. (Recipient), 05 Apr 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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British Society of Criminology Book of the Year Award for Paramilitary Imprisonment in Northern Ireland
McEvoy, K. (Recipient), 2002
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Fellow Academy of Social Sciences
McEvoy, K. (Recipient), Jun 2008
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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Fellow of the British Academy
McEvoy, K. (Recipient), Jul 2020
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Activities
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Economic & Social Research Council (External organisation)
McEvoy, K. (Member)
2008 → …Activity: Membership types › Membership of peer review panel or committee
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Academy of Learned Societies of the Social Sciences (External organisation)
McEvoy, K. (Member)
2005 → …Activity: Membership types › Membership of external research organisation
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Launched 'Model Bill' for Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland, House of Lords, Westminster, Ocober 2015
McEvoy, K. (Contributor)
21 Oct 2015Activity: Consultancy types › Contribution to the work of national or international committees and working groups
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PhD External Examiner Sexual Assault and the Catholic Church: Are Victims Finding Justice? Monash University
McEvoy, K. (Examiner)
10 Aug 2015Activity: Examination types › PhD external examination
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Plenary Address, British Society of Criminology Conference Restorative Justice and Challenging Embedded Cultures of Violence in Northern Ireland: 20 Years On.’
McEvoy, K. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
Jul 2015Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in conference
Press/Media
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The Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Queen’s University Belfast: Celebrating 25 years of Research, Policy, and Community Engagement
Corda, A., Maruna, S., McEvoy, K., Ellison, G. & Jackson, J.
03/02/2022
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Dec 2020 - Model Bill Team Research (and Presentations at Lambeth Palace) Discussed on BBC Radio Ulster 'Nolan Show' by former BBC Security Correspondent, Brian Rowan
Bryson, A., McEvoy, K. & Mallinder, L.
08/12/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Dec 2020 - Former PSNI Chief Constable, Sir George Hamilton, Refers to Work of Model Bill Team and Presentations at Lambeth Palace (Nov 2020) on BBC Radio Ulster Talkback Programme
Bryson, A., McEvoy, K. & Mallinder, L.
07/12/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Oct 2020 - Model Bill Team's Research Cited in Official Report of House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (October 2020)
Bryson, A., McEvoy, K. & Mallinder, L.
26/10/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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June 2020 - Model Bill Team's Research Cited by Claire Hanna MP During Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Evidence
Bryson, A., McEvoy, K. & Mallinder, L.
24/06/2020
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
Impacts
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Co-author of 4* Impact Case Study for REF 2021
Bryson, A. (Participant), McEvoy, K. (Participant) & Mallinder, L. (Participant)
Impact: Public Policy Impact
Thesis
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Paramilitary imprisonment in Northern Ireland 1969-1999 : resistance, management & release
McEvoy, K. (Author), Morison, J. (Supervisor) & Livingstone, S. (Supervisor), 2000Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
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