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BRIDGING GAPS OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPUNITY IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE THROUGH HYBRID COURTS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE ROME STATUTE'S COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE IN LIGHT OF THE ORGANIC LAW FOR THE CREATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Mawire, Innocent LU (2019) JAMM07 20191
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic becomes the first hybrid or internationalised criminal tribunal to be created since the coming into existence of the International Criminal Court in 2002. Born out of the realisation that the Central African Republic was a phantom State without a properly functioning national criminal justice system with no capacity to bring justice and accountability for atrocity crimes committed during years of armed conflict in that country, the Special Criminal Court has been received with mixed views. From the optimistic side, the SCC has been viewed as an important initiative that will bridge gaps of accountability between the national criminal jurisdictions and the International Criminal... (More)
The Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic becomes the first hybrid or internationalised criminal tribunal to be created since the coming into existence of the International Criminal Court in 2002. Born out of the realisation that the Central African Republic was a phantom State without a properly functioning national criminal justice system with no capacity to bring justice and accountability for atrocity crimes committed during years of armed conflict in that country, the Special Criminal Court has been received with mixed views. From the optimistic side, the SCC has been viewed as an important initiative that will bridge gaps of accountability between the national criminal jurisdictions and the International Criminal Court while on the pessimistic side the SCC is regarded as an indictment on the International Criminal Court's failure to bring justice and accountability for international crimes committed in CAR. Against this background, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the legal framework for the establishment of the Special Criminal Court and how it relates to the ICC complementarity regime. More particularly, the thesis will focus on the historical considerations that necessitated the creation of the SCC, its hybrid status, jurisdictional issues including the controversial aspect regarding the granting of primacy of jurisdiction to the ICC. The thesis will argue that the creation of a hybrid or internationalised special court in CAR is an important initiative whose overarching objective is to bridge any gaps of accountability for atrocity crimes between national criminal jurisdictions and the ICC. It will argue that the SCC does not in any way seek to reverse the long established rules on the complementarity nature of the ICC jurisdictions but ought to be viewed as an innovative way of building and strengthening the capacities of national judiciaries to be able to undertake the prosecution of such international crimes in future long after such a specialised court is no longer there. (Less)
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author
Mawire, Innocent LU
supervisor
organization
course
JAMM07 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
International Criminal Justice, International Criminal Court, Complementarity, Human Rights, International Crimes, Hybrid Courts, Justice, Peacebuilding, Special Criminal Court, United Nations
language
English
id
8994430
date added to LUP
2019-09-16 17:14:25
date last changed
2019-09-16 17:14:25
@misc{8994430,
  abstract     = {{The Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic becomes the first hybrid or internationalised criminal tribunal to be created since the coming into existence of the International Criminal Court in 2002. Born out of the realisation that the Central African Republic was a phantom State without a properly functioning national criminal justice system with no capacity to bring justice and accountability for atrocity crimes committed during years of armed conflict in that country, the Special Criminal Court has been received with mixed views. From the optimistic side, the SCC has been viewed as an important initiative that will bridge gaps of accountability between the national criminal jurisdictions and the International Criminal Court while on the pessimistic side the SCC is regarded as an indictment on the International Criminal Court's failure to bring justice and accountability for international crimes committed in CAR. Against this background, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the legal framework for the establishment of the Special Criminal Court and how it relates to the ICC complementarity regime. More particularly, the thesis will focus on the historical considerations that necessitated the creation of the SCC, its hybrid status, jurisdictional issues including the controversial aspect regarding the granting of primacy of jurisdiction to the ICC. The thesis will argue that the creation of a hybrid or internationalised special court in CAR is an important initiative whose overarching objective is to bridge any gaps of accountability for atrocity crimes between national criminal jurisdictions and the ICC. It will argue that the SCC does not in any way seek to reverse the long established rules on the complementarity nature of the ICC jurisdictions but ought to be viewed as an innovative way of building and strengthening the capacities of national judiciaries to be able to undertake the prosecution of such international crimes in future long after such a specialised court is no longer there.}},
  author       = {{Mawire, Innocent}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{BRIDGING GAPS OF ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPUNITY IN INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE THROUGH HYBRID COURTS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE ROME STATUTE'S COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE IN LIGHT OF THE ORGANIC LAW FOR THE CREATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}