Special Court for Sierra Leone, The Trial of Charles Taylor: Prosecuting "Persons who bear the Greatest Responsibility"

Taylor Trial

Special Court for Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

English

This report is the latest in a series of periodic analytical reports issued by the War Crimes Studies Center as part of its permanent international monitoring program at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL or “Court”). Since the Court began in 2004, the War Crimes Studies Center (WCSC) has been the only international organization to have maintained an ongoing presence at the SCSL. Our monitors have covered all four trials, producing regular critical analysis on the development, jurisprudence, and functioning of the Court. The WCSC has issued over one hundred and twenty trial reports covering daily courtroom proceedings, and published numerous in-depth thematic reports evaluating discrete aspects of the “hybrid tribunal” model of international criminal justice. These reports have addressed such topics as the treatment of child witnesses, the treatment of sexual violence charges, and the internal operations of the Court’s Defense Office and the Office of the Prosecutor. This report is based on daily in-court monitoring of the Taylor trial’s open sessions, review of public filings and decisions, review of articles and other legal research materials, and interviews with key Court personnel.

The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the progress of the last active case at the Special Court for Sierra Leone—Prosecutor v. Charles Ghankay Taylor. The case against the former Liberian President has been one of the most anticipated trials in international criminal law, and it has been the most high profile proceeding at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Nearly six years have passed since the Prosecution issued its initial indictment against Taylor. In the two years since trial proceedings began, the trial moved from Freetown to The Hague, the Accused has been represented by two Defense teams, the Court has experienced several delays, and the Prosecution has produced evidence from ninetyseven witnesses. At the close of the Prosecution’s case-in-chief, then-Chief Prosecutor, Stephen Rapp declared, “It has been demonstrated that it is possible to prosecute a former chief of state in a trial that is fair and efficient, even where the indictment covers wide-ranging crimes. We have seen international justice conducted in accordance with the highest standards.” On close analysis of the proceedings thus far, however, the Prosecutor’s optimistic assessment of the Taylor trial at the midway point appears both overstated and entirely premature.