Political scientist focusing on the cross-section between law and politics, encompassing topics related to democratisation, human rights, transitional justice, judicial reform, and development issues.Regions of interest: South America (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay) and Southern Africa (Namibia, Angola, Mozambique).Skaar is coordinator for the Cluster on Rights and Legal Institutions and head of CMI's research on Transitional Justice, which focuses on both the drivers and impact of transitional justice processes. Skaar has contributed to the ”Courts in transition” research programme, which in the past decade has investigated the role of courts in political and social transformation, with a particular focus on the global south. Comparative research projects, involving local scholars in the countries as well as international experts, focus on "The accountability function of courts in new democracies" and "The poor and the judiciary".Skaar has done programme work for the UNDP and served as a consultant for NORAD, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ireland Aid. Skaar has been member of the Board of Directors at the Centre for applied research at the Norwegian School of Economics (2009-15), and member of the editorial board for Human Rights Review. She is also on the steering committee for the Center on Law and Social Transformation, which is a joint initiative by CMI and the University of Bergen, Department of Comparative Politics.Skaar has two new books with Routledge in their Transitional Justice Series: After Violence: Transitional Justice, Peace, and Democracy (co-authored with Camila Gianella Malca and Trine Eide) - published April 2015 - and Reconceptualizing Transitional Justice: The Latin American Experience (co-edited with Jemima Garcia-Godos and Cath Collins) (forthcoming late 2015)