Calling Children to Account: The Proposal for a Juvenile Chamber in the Special Court for Sierra Leone

Abstract

How nation-states and the international community should treat such children, how to accommodate their dual status as perpetrators and as victims of atrocities, are questions destined to recur. Thus this article examines the concept of a Juvenile Chamber to adjudicate atrocities that violate international law. First it sets out the background of the conflict in Sierra Leone, placing it within the child-soldiering phenomenon. Then it analyzes the Secretary-General's proposal for holding at least some child perpetrators accountable in Sierra Leone, as well as the Security Council's dilution of that proposal. The article sees the provision for juvenile prosecutions'as the result of a constructive, pluralistic approach to the childsoldiering problem. It concludes that adjudication of selected juvenile cases may be appropriate in the specific context of Sierra Leone, though it voices concerns about certain provisions in the original plan.