Special Court for Sierra Leone

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SCSL Appeals Chamber Affirms Charles Taylor’s Conviction

Today the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone unanimously upheld the conviction of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, and affirmed the Trial Chamber's sentence of 50 years imprisonment. The judgment is available here; a short press release here. The judgment is very long and will take some time to digest. Symbolically and politically it is of course of immense importance. Legally, however, the most interesting aspect of the judgment is the SCSL's refusal to follow the ICTY Appeals Chamber's holding in Perisic that the actus reus of aiding and abetting liability requires the assistance to be 'specifically directed' towards the commission of crimes. Readers will recall that Perisic was acquitted despite knowing that the aid he was providing to the Bosnian Serbs will help them in the commission of crimes against international law, since the ICTY Appeals Chamber found that the aid was given to the war effort as a whole, rather than to the commission of the crimes as such. For more background, see my previous post…

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Why the Special Court for Sierra Leone Should Establish an Independent Commission to Address Alternate Judge Sow’s Allegation in the Charles Taylor Case

Charles C. Jalloh is Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; formerly the Legal Advisor to the Office of the Principal Defender, Special Court for Sierra Leone and duty counsel to former Liberian President Charles Taylor. He blogs at International Criminal Law in Ferment Introduction…

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The Verdict in the Charles Taylor Case and the Alternate Judge’s “Dissenting Opinion”

Charles Jalloh is Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; formerly the Legal Advisor to the Office of the Principal Defender, Special Court for Sierra Leone and duty counsel to former Liberian President Charles Taylor. He blogs at International Criminal Law in Ferment and we are grateful to him for accepting our…

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Blood Diamonds: Supermodel Naomi Campbell may be compelled to Testify at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. (Updated)

Sylvia Ngane is a doctoral candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the School of Law, University of Leeds, UK. Her article "Witnesses Before the International Criminal Court" is published in (2009) 8 Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals 431-457. Editor's Note: In a decision issued on the same day this piece was…

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