Book

Thèse

The contribution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone to the development of international humanitarian law

by Ousman Njikam

Berlin : Duncker and Humblot, 2013

332 p. : diagr. ; 24 cm

978-3-428-13962-0

English

Dissertation, Faculty of law of the Georg-August University of Göttingen, November 2011. - Bibliographie : p. 290-306. Index

The objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the contribution of the Special Court to the development of international humanitarian law. Similar to its predecessors (ad hoc Tribunals), the Special Court consolidated the principle under international law of individual criminal responsibility. The author evaluates the Special Court's mandate to "prosecute those who 'bear the greatest responsibility' " as being in itself a contribution to the development of international humanitarian law since the ICTY and ICTR at the time of their inception did not have this limitation rationae personae / prosecutorial discretion. The author assesses some of the interesting and challenging issues dealt with such as the recruitment of child soldiers, amnesty for international crimes, head of state immunity and the crime of forced marriage. He concludes that the Special Court contributed albeit to a limited extent to the development of international humanitarian law.