Hybrid criminal courts: The case of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the trial of Charles Taylor

Abstract

Armed conflicts, especially international ones, generate significant problems from the standpoint of administering criminal justice to individuals. In such cases, the domestic judiciary often turns out to be insufficient. In this article, the author analyzes the issues of hybrid judicature as one of the main solutions developed by international criminal law in response to the problems emerging in this judicial area. The starting point for these considerations is the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an almost model example of a hybrid court, as well as the trial of Charles Taylor, the Liberian dictator involved in the Sierra-Leonean conflict. The case of the Special Court, examined in conjunction with its structure, jurisdiction and judgments, displays the general characteristics of the internationalized tribunals, along with the benefits and risks associated with them.