Friend or foe? on the protective reach of the law of armed conflict: A note on the SCSL trial chamber’s judgment in the case of prosecutor v. Sesay, Kallon and Gbao

Abstract

In its 2009 judgment in the case of Prosecutor v Sesay, Kallon and Gbao, the Special Court for Sierra Leone asserted that “the killing of a member of an armed group by another member of the same group does not constitute a war crime”. The current chapter subjects that categorical assertion to critical examination. It concludes that the reasoning of the Special Court for Sierra Leone is unconvincing and displays a misapprehension of the protective reach of the law of armed conflict.