Introduction

Abstract

Contemporary records show that the West African State of Sierra Leone has recently made history with the trial, conviction, and sentencing by the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, an international criminal tribunal, of Charles Taylor, former President of the West African State of Liberia for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. Unfortunately, this positive profile seems to be marred by the fact that a close analysis of Sierra Leone’s municipal law system reveals major deficiencies in respect to the country’s international obligation to extradite or prosecute perpetrators of crimes in violation of international criminal law through the exercise of universal jurisdiction. This chapter places the issue in context. Throughout this work, the term “municipal law system” will be used synonymously with the term “national law system” or “national law” to distinguish this branch of the law from “international law”.