da Silva, Clare --- "The hybrid experience of the Special Court for Sierra Leone" [2011] ELECD 102; in Brown, S. Bartram (ed), "Research Handbook on International Criminal Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Criminal Law

Editor(s): Brown, S. Bartram

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847202789

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: The hybrid experience of the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Author(s): da Silva, Clare

Number of pages: 27

Extract:

10 The hybrid experience of the Special Court for Sierra
Leone
Clare da Silva



INTRODUCTION

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) is one of a discrete number of `hybrid' tribunals
that have been established in recent years. As the name suggests, it was envisioned as a Court
for Sierra Leone, established in response to the government's request, taking into account the
special needs and requirements of Sierra Leone and located in the country where the crimes
occurred. It is referred to as a `hybrid' or `mixed' tribunal because it was established through
joint action of the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone. The SCSL was
conceived as an alternative model to the ad hoc tribunals that were created by decision of the
United Nations Security Council.1 This chapter will provide an overview of the conflict, the
establishment of the SCSL, its structure, the trials and an analysis of the jurisprudence and
legacy of the Court. It also addresses the relationship between the Court and the Sierra Leone
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which operated simultaneously for a brief
period.
While it is too early to reach definitive conclusions on this `hybrid' model, or the overall
contribution of the SCSL, it is clear that it provides a number of important lessons for future
mechanisms of international justice. Many of these lessons stem not from the model of the
hybrid tribunal itself but from the practical application of this model in Sierra Leone. This
chapter draws the ...