THE SIERRA LEONE PROJECT (“SLP”)

Chief Prosecutor David Crane ’80 presents a commemorative plaque to Prof. Arzt & '02-03 SLP members.The plaque was hand-carved by a Sierra Leone artisan.

The Sierra Leone Project, sponsored by the Center for Global Law and Practice, is a group of approximately fourteen students a year, supervised by three faculty members, who conduct research on comparative and international criminal law and procedure at the request of the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which was established by the United Nations and the country’s government at the end of the decade-long Sierra Leone civil war.

The Syracuse students receive academic credit for their work in teams of two to four to produce legal memoranda on issues raised in motions before the tribunal and in challenges by defendants, who are presently on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including recruiting child soldiers to maim or kill entire villages of civilians and forcing young girls into sexual slavery. The first Chief Prosecutor, David M. Crane, is a 1980 graduate of the College of Law. Over 34 students have participated in SLP since it began in 2002 (see Members of the Sierra Leone Project), almost a third of them for two consecutive years.

UPDATE!  David Crane Joins College of Law as Distinguished Visiting Professor.

For More Information About Sierra Leone and  the Special Court

Offices of the Prosecutor at the SCSL campus in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Prof. Arzt and Prof. Rignanese visited in July 2003.

What is the SCSL?

Official Court website

Relevant Documents

Human Rights Watch focus

International Crisis Group reports

Integrated Regional Information Network

UNAMSIL (UN Mission in Sierra Leone)

GLAP International Criminal Law links