Civil Society's Endgame: The Roles and Legacies of Peoples' Tribunals in Today's Accountability Landscape.

This article examines the role of civil society in modern peoples' tribunals, focusing on their contributions to accountability for serious human rights violations and their interaction with formal legal institutions. It analyzes two recent civil society-led tribunals: the Uyghur Tribunal, which investigated alleged crimes against the Uyghur population in China's Xinjiang region, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Inquiries, which addressed human rights abuses in North Korea. The article highlights how these tribunals rely on extensive civil society evidence-gathering and increasingly adhere to formal legal standards to enhance legitimacy and evidential value, while acknowledging their judgments lack legal enforceability. It also discusses the challenges these tribunals face in serving victims directly and their potential impact on formal accountability mechanisms amid state-based justice system limitations.