The Special Court for Sierra Leone

The Special Court for Sierra Leone, a joint effort of the United Nations and the Freetown government, is unique from both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and was intentionally designed to compensate for the perceived shortcomings of those tribunals. It will serve as the international justice mechanoism to prosecute those responsible for acts of genocide and war crimes committed during Sierra Leone's civil war. The primary structure for the proposed court is the result of a draft proposal prepared by the Secretary-General and presented in October 2000.

The differences between the existing tribunals and the Special Court are substantial. When it begins operation in late 2001 or 2002, the Court will, security allowing, be located in Sierra Leone itself. This will allow victims unprecedented access to the proceedings and provide an increased capacity for domestic participation. Unlike the ICTY and the ICTR, the Special Court is explicitly charged with the prosecution of those most responsible for acts of genocide and serious breaches of international humanitarian law. It is hoped that this will avoid the criticism that the other tribunals have faced for focusing on the less culpable parties while being unable to prosecute high ranking officials. This design is complemented by a unique counterpart of the Court - the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This TRC will focus on reintegrating the less responsible participants on the war back into Sierra Leonean society. The side by side nature of the two institutions is an experiment in international justice and domestic healing. The TRC is also intended to provide a mechanism for the reintegration of the unusually high number of child combatants from the civil war.

In another break with the existing tribunals, the Special Court will operate with the joint cooperation of the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone. While the other tribunals were established as Chapter VII organs of the Security Council, the Special Court is formed by a treaty between Sierra Leone and the United Nations. As such, the Court will operate under the auspicies of the government, not independently of the government. Both the UN and the government will be allowed to make judicial and prosecutorial appointments and the Court will have both domestic and international staff members. These structural accomodations are an attempt to avoid the poor relations that developed between the United Nations and the domestic government following the establishment of the ICTR in Rwanda.

The final unique concession in the Special Court is the provision for the trial of minors. While the Freetown government wanted permission to prosecute those responsible for war crimes regardless of their age, the UN tried to maintain the international standard of 18 as the age of culpability. A compromise was reached at age 15, with a provision that all those who were younger at the time of the crimes would be sent to the TRC.

Background on the Civil War in Sierra Leone

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