Which and Whose Authority? EU support to security governance in Aceh

Abstract

This article focuses on the use of informal justice systems to support Community Based Policing with the aim to create legitimacy between state and society in post-conflict processes. It analyses the EU's involvement in reviving the customary justice system 'adat' in Aceh, Indonesia in order to discern how the concept of authority is mediated from an international organisation to local stakeholders via Security Sector Reform (SSR). The article operates with three conceptions of authority present in situations of security sector assistance: modern, postmodern and traditional. It explores the different faces of authority present in the case of Aceh, and unravels which and whose authority the EU propagates through its support to SSR. The article finds potentially contradictory processes at work, and highlights the need for more research on the use of informal justice systems within SSR.