Abstract

This chapter describes and analyzes some trends in the design of truth commission mandates beyond their original fact-finding function. It establishes links between the expansion of truth commission mandates and two particular challenges truth commissions have encountered, namely the poor record of implementation of their recommendations and challenges relating to the selection of commissioners. It also discusses the relationship between the temporal scope of the truth commission and its mandate, including a list of the number of years many commissions were given or took to attempt to carry out their mandate. The chapter argues for more stringent functional analysis in the design of truth commission mandates.