Tuesday 19th March 2024

Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone

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The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone was established by an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to oversee the continuing legal obligations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone after its closure in 2013. These include conducting contempt of court proceedings, witness protection, supervision of prison sentences, and management of the SCSL archives.

The RSCSL

The RSCSL

The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone in the Hague

The SCSL

The SCSL

SCSL in Freetown. Taylor trial was conducted in the Hague.

Peace Museum

Peace Museum

Visit the peace museum in Freetown

Trial Videos

The SCSL

Document archive including case records, hearing videos and transcripts

Download Fact Sheet

RSCSL Fact Sheet 2022

This Fact Sheet is dedicated to all those who in diverse ways have contributed to bringing justice to the victims of the 11-year war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The information contained in the Fact Sheet is a highlight of the achievements and challenges of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone (RSCSL) and its predecessor – the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).

The Special Court has made historic contributions to international criminal justice. It was the first tribunal since Nuremberg to successfully bring to justice a Head of State (at the time of his indictment). Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia was tried in The Hague by the Special Court for Sierra Leone and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The Special Court was also the first in history to adjudicate on crimes relating to enlistment, recruitment, conscription or use of child soldiers; attacks on peacekeepers; forced marriage; sovereign immunity; effect of national amnesties on the jurisdiction of an international court and procedural relationships with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Timeline of the war and the Special Court