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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Law And Politics Of The Charles Taylor Case, Charles Chernor Jalloh
The Law And Politics Of The Charles Taylor Case, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Faculty Publications
This article discusses a rare successful prosecution of a head of state by a modern international criminal court. The case involved former Liberian president Charles Taylor. Taylor, who was charged and tried by the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (“SCSL”), was convicted in April 2013 for planning and aiding and abetting war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious international humanitarian law violations. He was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment. The SCSL Appeals Chamber upheld the historic conviction and sentence in September 2013. Taylor is currently serving his sentence in Great Britain. This article, from an insider who …
The Special Tribunal For Lebanon: A Defense Perspective, Charles Chernor Jalloh
The Special Tribunal For Lebanon: A Defense Perspective, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Faculty Publications
A fundamental aspect of United States criminal law is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. A corollary right gives every American a Constitutional right to counsel or the right to represent herself in person if she so chooses. In international criminal law, similar fundamental rights are theoretically offered to accused persons under the statutes of the courts and under general international human rights law. However, unlike the U.S. criminal justice system, international criminal tribunals have generally failed to honor the lofty promises contained in their constitutive instruments. But it is not the principled lack of adherence to ensuring the …
Prosecuting Those Bearing 'Greatest Responsibility': The Lessons Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Prosecuting Those Bearing 'Greatest Responsibility': The Lessons Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Faculty Publications
This Article examines the controversial article 1(1) of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) giving that tribunal the competence “to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility” for serious international and domestic crimes committed during the latter part of the notoriously brutal Sierra Leonean conflict. The debate that arose during the SCSL trials was whether this bare statement constituted a jurisdictional requirement that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt or merely a type of guideline for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The judges of the court split on the issue. This paper is the …
Kenya Vs. The Icc Prosecutor, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Kenya Vs. The Icc Prosecutor, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Contribution Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone To The Development Of International Law, Charles Chernor Jalloh
The Contribution Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone To The Development Of International Law, Charles Chernor Jalloh
Faculty Publications
This article is the first major study examining whether the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) has made, or is making, any contribution to the development of international law. The author concludes that it has. In this vein, he analyzes the creation of the Defence Office, the Legacy Phase Working Group and the Outreach Section to show that some of the structural novelties introduced through SCSL practice have proven to be worthy of replication within other international criminal courts. Taking as an example the controversy regarding the United Nations Security Council’s power to create ad hoc international criminal tribunals, the …
Ending Impunity The Case For War Crimes Trials In Liberia, Charles Chernor Jalloh, Alhagi Marong
Ending Impunity The Case For War Crimes Trials In Liberia, Charles Chernor Jalloh, Alhagi Marong
Faculty Publications
This paper argues that Liberia owes a duty under international law to investigate and prosecute the heinous crimes, including torture, rape and extra-judicial killings of innocent civilians, committed in that country by the various warring parties in the course of 14 years of brutal conflict. The authors evaluate the options for prosecution, starting with the possible use of Liberian courts. They argue that even if willing, the national courts are unable to render credible justice that protects the due process rights of the accused given the collapse of legal institutions and the paucity of financial, human and material resources in …
Errors And Missteps: Key Lessons The Iraqi Special Tribunal Can Learn From The Icty, Ictr, And Scsl, Michael P. Scharf, Ahran Kang
Errors And Missteps: Key Lessons The Iraqi Special Tribunal Can Learn From The Icty, Ictr, And Scsl, Michael P. Scharf, Ahran Kang
Faculty Publications
In a few months, the trial of Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi regime leaders will begin before the Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST). The IST is a unique "internationalized-domestic tribunal" whose Statute and Rules of Procedure are modeled upon the UN-created Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY), Rwanda Genocide Tribunal (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), but whose judges are all Iraqis and whose courtroom is in Baghdad. There is much the IST can learn both from the successes and missteps of the ICTY, ICTR, and SCSL; many of the issues that will arise in the trials of …