Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2026

Time: 12:40pm-2:10pm

Location: Mary Graydon Student Center, Room 307

This talk examines how constitutional courts shape transitional justice in post-authoritarian democracies, focusing on South Korea and Taiwan. It develops an analytical framework identifying three judicial strategies: intervention, deference, and dialogue, distinguished by their institutional orientations, constitutional reasoning, and remedial options. Through a comparative and contextual analysis, the talk explores how political transitions, authoritarian legacies, judicial independence, and changing democratic conditions influence judicial strategies. Both countries experienced negotiated democratic transitions, during which their constitutional courts initially adopted deferential approaches, prioritizing political stability and institutional legitimacy. Over time, however, both courts gradually shifted toward more active engagement in addressing historical injustices, protecting victims’ rights, and supporting transitional justice. Drawing on landmark constitutional decisions concerning accountability, reparations, and authoritarian legacies, the talk argues that judicial strategies are not fixed but evolve in response to changing political and institutional contexts, with significant implications for democratic consolidation and constitutional transformation.

Yi-Li Lee is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Law for Science and Technology, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. She holds a Ph.D. from the College of Law at National Taiwan University. Her research interests include transitional justice, digital rights and AI governance, comparative constitutional law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law.

Her research has appeared in leading domestic and international journals, including The International Journal of Human Rights, Health and Human Rights, Asian Journal of Law and Society, Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law (ICL Journal), Law and Ethics of Human Rights, Rivista di diritto dei media, NTU Law Journal, Soochow Journal of Political Science, and Taiwan Human Rights Journal. She has also contributed book chapters published by Routledge, Springer, Edward Elgar Publishing, and Cambridge University Press.