INTRODUCTION

Sierra Leone is a small country in West-Africa bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Liberia and Guinea. From approximately 1991 to 2002 the population was subjected to a brutal civil war the hallmarks of which included sexual violence, amputation of limbs and the abduction of children by the warring factions to be “child soldiers.”

Following the declaration of peace in January 2002 the Government of Sierra Leone negotiated an agreement with the Security Council of the United Nations to set up a war crimes tribunal to try those responsible for the crimes committed in the course of the conflict. The Security Council had already, on 14 August 2000 passed Resolution 1315 (2000) expressing “deep concern at the very serious crimes committed within the territory of Sierra Leone against the people of Sierra Leone and United Nations and associated personnel and the prevailing situation of impunity.”

The resultant treaty setting up the tribunal that became known as the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL or Special Court) was entered into between the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone on 16 January 2002. It was the first of the treaty-based hybrid international war crime tribunals. Its mandate was more restricted than those of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) as its powers were limited to try those who bore “the greatest responsibility” for war crimes, crimes against humanity and breaches of international criminal law during the period 30 November 1996 to 18 January 2002 (i.e. less than the entire conflict period). Unlike the ad hoc tribunals it does not have Chapter 7 powers and included in its jurisdiction are crimes under domestic law that are: offences relating to the abuse of girls under the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1926, and offences relating to the wanton destruction of property under the Malicious Damage Act, 1861. The agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone provided for the appointment of judges, the prosecutor and deputy prosecutor with the Government of Sierra Leone appointing one of the three judges in each of the Trial Chambers, two of the five judges in the Appeals Chamber and the deputy prosecutor. Other judges and the prosecutor were appointed by the United Nations.