Victims at the Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court

Abstract

The Central African Republic's Special Criminal Court (SCC), the latest hybrid criminal tribunal, may be considered an important legal development concerning victims of mass atrocities in international criminal justice mechanisms due to certain characteristics. Yet there is no academic commentary on victims at the SCC; this piece seeks to fill the gap. First it considers restorative justice as a general framework for victims’ roles and rights in criminal justice in contexts of mass atrocities. Second, victim matters at the SCC are examined: victim protection, victims as civil parties, and reparations. Overall, this paper argues that provisions on victims’ roles and rights contained in SCC instruments are consistent with restorative justice and international law, but that there are major challenges ahead.