Troubled Indictments at the Special Court for Sierra Leone: The Pleading of Joint Criminal Enterprise and Sex-based Crimes

Abstract

This article argues that the indictments at the Special Court for Sierra Leone have pleaded joint criminal enterprise and sex-based crimes in ways that threaten the rights of the accused to notice of the charges against them. While the Taylor Indictment neglects to outline the purpose of the joint criminal enterprise in which the accused allegedly took part, the Prosecution’s recent arguments in this respect have further confused the matter. In addition, the RUF and AFRC Indictments alleged forced marriage without clearly indicating what crime such conduct would violate. Although the Appeals Chamber provided guidance on the issues of joint criminal enterprise and forced marriage in its recent AFRC Appeal Judgment, its pronouncements may be of limited use or applicability to the ongoing RUF and Taylor cases. Ultimately, the Prosecution’s pleading practices have both harmed the rights of the accused and weakened its cases against them. Introduction The indictments at the Special Court for Sierra Leone have been controversial to such an extent that questions have inevitably arisen about the adequacy of the notice they have provided to the accused. The AFRC, RUF and Taylor Indictments, in particular, plead joint criminal enterprise (JCE) and sex-based crimes in an unusually confused and sparse manner that opens much room for debate on this seemingly simple issue of notice to the accused. 1 The basic question is whether these indictments, which are so lacking in clarity and specifics, actually inform the accused of the charges against them and allow the accused to prepare an adequate * J.D., Columbia; B.A., Yale. Former Associate Legal Officer, Special Court for Sierra Leone. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not attributable to the Special Court. 1 Prosecutor v. Taylor, SCSL-03-01-PT, Second Amended Indictment, 29 May 2007 [hereinafter Amended Taylor Indictment]; Prosecutor v. Brima, Kamara and Kanu, SCSL-04-16-PT, Further Amended Consolidated Indictment, 18 February 2005 [hereinafter AFRC Indictment]; Prosecutor v. Sesay, Kallon and Gbao, SCSL-04-15-PT, Corrected Amended Consolidated Indictment, 2 August 2006 [hereinafter RUF Indictment].