Patricia Lundy and Mark McGovern
ARK Update 46
Truth Commissions have become one of the most common ways for a country emerging from confl ict or a record of severe human rights abuses to deal with the legacy of the past. While they can differ greatly in terms of their powers, purpose and structure, a truth commission is basically an offi cial body set up to look at the pattern of past events and issues and report on its findings after a set period of time (Hayner, 2001).