Abstract
Part I of this Article examines the chronology of the decade-long conflict in Sierra Leone. It provides an illuminating backdrop against which the Special Court may be assessed and highlights particular features that the institutional design of the Special Court would have to accommodate. Part II explores the precedents for the Special Court. Specifically, it considers the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ("ICTY") and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ("ICTR"), and the impetus behind the International Criminal Court, developments that parallel in time the unfolding of Sierra Leone's conflict. Part III subjects particular features of the Special Court to critical assessment, namely its institutional design, the lack of power and resources committed thereto, and the context in which it will operate. It argues that these features represent fundamental flaws and significant hurdles that need to be overcome if the Special Court is to operate effectively or efficiently.
Recommended Citation
Nicole Fritz and Alison Smith,
Current Apathy for Coming Anarchy: Building the Special Court for Sierra Leone,
25 Fordham Int'l L.J. 391
(2001).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol25/iss2/3