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Other “Hybrid” Tribunals

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Abstract

The term ‘hybrid tribunals’ denotes judicial mechanisms for the administration of justice whose organizational set up combines international and domestic features. In this chapter, the emphasis is on hybrid tribunals established to prosecute international and transnational crimes, such as the Special Panels for Serious Crimes in East Timor, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The chapter discusses the definition of hybrid tribunals, the reasons put forward to justify their creation and the most frequent criticisms against them. Following this tour d’horizon, it explains that hybrid tribunals retain their attraction as a constant feature of the post-conflict peace-building toolbox, even after the establishment of the ICC. It presents four examples of hybrid courts (East Timor, Sierra Leone, Lebanon and Chad) which operated after the adoption of the 1998 ICC Statute. In conclusion, the chapter highlights that hybrid courts come in many different shapes and sizes; this versatility may constitute their most attractive feature for post-conflict justice, as well as their utmost vulnerability to claims of politicisation and ‘victor’s justice’.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Williams 2009, at 445–446.

  2. 2.

    Nouwen 2006, at 203.

  3. 3.

    Fichtelberg 2015, at 1.

  4. 4.

    Williams 2012, at 201–212.

  5. 5.

    Dickinson 2003, at 296.

  6. 6.

    Cassese 2010, at 433, 437.

  7. 7.

    Koh 2013, at 531.

  8. 8.

    Nouwen 2006, at 191.

  9. 9.

    Hobbs 2016, at 489.

  10. 10.

    Report of the Secretary General 2004, at 1.

  11. 11.

    Dickinson 2003, at 296.

  12. 12.

    Damaška 2008, at 331–332.

  13. 13.

    OHCHR 2008, at 4; De Hoon 2017, at 601–604.

  14. 14.

    De Hoon 2017, at 601.

  15. 15.

    Nouwen and Werner 2015.

  16. 16.

    Hamilton and Ramsden 2014, at 117.

  17. 17.

    Carlson 2018, at 243.

  18. 18.

    Herman 2013, at 217.

  19. 19.

    Jørgensen 2018, at 359.

  20. 20.

    Ciorciari and Hendel 2014 at. 7–8; Naughton 2018, at 93 mentions the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Timor-Leste Panels as two exceptions that received some scaled contributions.

  21. 21.

    Tortora 2013, at 94.

  22. 22.

    Linton 2001, at 215.

  23. 23.

    Rapp 2014, at 25.

  24. 24.

    Yim Tith Budgetary Situation Decision 2017, paras 22–23.

  25. 25.

    Naughton 2018, at 77.

  26. 26.

    Tredici and Galand 2018, at 4–6.

  27. 27.

    Loi Organique No 15-003.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., Article 37.

  29. 29.

    In favour Tredici and Galand 2018, at 17–18, against Labuda 2018, p. 193.

  30. 30.

    Donlon 2013, at 86.

  31. 31.

    Cohen 2009, at 126.

  32. 32.

    UN SC Res 1272/1999.

  33. 33.

    Cohen 2009, 105–106.

  34. 34.

    Section 1.3 of Regulation 15.

  35. 35.

    Section 2.3 of Regulation 15.

  36. 36.

    Sections 3.1. and 3.2 of Regulation 15.

  37. 37.

    Section 22.1 and 22.2 of Regulation 15.

  38. 38.

    Section 22.2 of Regulation 15.

  39. 39.

    Donlon 2013, at 87.

  40. 40.

    UNSC 1573/2004.

  41. 41.

    Report of the Secretary-General 2004, at 17.

  42. 42.

    Rapoza 2006, at 525–526.

  43. 43.

    Commission of Experts 2005, para 126.

  44. 44.

    Cohen 2009, 126–217.

  45. 45.

    SCSL Agreement 2002.

  46. 46.

    Tortora 2013, at 96–97.

  47. 47.

    Report of the Secretary-General 2000, para 39.

  48. 48.

    Article 1 of the SCSL Agreement 2002.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., Articles 2–5 of the Agreement.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., Articles 12–15 of the Agreement.

  51. 51.

    SCSL Appeals Chamber 2004, para 6.

  52. 52.

    RSCSL Agreement 2010, Article 1.

  53. 53.

    Donlon 2013, at 873.

  54. 54.

    Tortora 2013, at 101–102.

  55. 55.

    Clark 2009, at 109–110, Ford 2014, at 512–513.

  56. 56.

    Lomé Amnesty Decision 2004.

  57. 57.

    Oosterveld 2014, at 234–235.

  58. 58.

    Wetzel and Mitri 2008, at 85–86.

  59. 59.

    UN Secretary General 2007, at 2.

  60. 60.

    Report of the Secretary General 2006, para 25.

  61. 61.

    Nsereko 2017, at 440.

  62. 62.

    Article 2 STL Statute.

  63. 63.

    Ibid., Article 4 STL Statute.

  64. 64.

    Nsereko 2017, at 444–445.

  65. 65.

    STL Decision on Definition of Terrorism.

  66. 66.

    Ibid., para 85.

  67. 67.

    Ventura 2011, at 1027–1029.

  68. 68.

    Saul 2011, at 678–679.

  69. 69.

    Ambos 2011, at 658.

  70. 70.

    Ventura 2011, at 1028–1029.

  71. 71.

    Margariti 2017, at 159.

  72. 72.

    Baragwanath 2018, at 33.

  73. 73.

    National Commission of Inquiry 1991, at 91; Fall 2014, at 117–118.

  74. 74.

    Adjovi 20112012, at 375; Naldi and Magliveras 2013, at 84–89; Spiga 2011, at 7–11.

  75. 75.

    AU-Senegal Agreement, Statute of the Extraordinary African Chambers within the Courts of Senegal 2012.

  76. 76.

    EAC Statute 2013.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., Article 3 of the EAC Statute.

  78. 78.

    Williams 2013, at 1147.

  79. 79.

    Carlson 2018, at 342–343, Brody 2015, at 214.

  80. 80.

    Article 4 EAC Statute.

  81. 81.

    Article 16(2) of the Statute.

  82. 82.

    Article 14 of the Statute.

  83. 83.

    Habré Trial Judgment.

  84. 84.

    Dubler and Kalyk 2018, at 294–295.

  85. 85.

    Stahn 2018, at 405.

  86. 86.

    Dubler and Kalyk 2018, at 295.

  87. 87.

    Carlson 2018, at 343.

  88. 88.

    Stahn 2018, at 405.

  89. 89.

    Mninde-Silungwe 2017, at 32–33.

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Vagias, M. (2022). Other “Hybrid” Tribunals. In: Sayapin, S., Atadjanov, R., Kadam, U., Kemp, G., Zambrana-Tévar, N., Quénivet, N. (eds) International Conflict and Security Law. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-515-7_30

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