Essay --

Hybrid tribunals are most often established in post-conflict regions where no international tribunal exists, and local capacities are insufficient to singularly cope with mass atrocity. Examples of â€Å"hybrid† tribunals include: East Timor, Cambodia, Sierra Leone, and Lebanon. In the event that an international tribunal, such as the ICC, cannot cope with the number of alleged perpetrators, hybrid tribunals also serve as an alternative accountability mechanism. A newly created â€Å"hybrid† international criminal tribunal for Syria will most effectively serve the transitional and restorative justice goals of President Bashar al-Assad’s prosecution. Although the precise definition of â€Å"hybrid† courts is still evolving, some baseline characteristics have emerged. Hybrids aim to marry the expertise and resources of the international community with the legitimacy of local actors. Generally, hybrids are comprised of mixed staff, both local and international, and compound international and national substantive and procedural law. Hybrid tribunals criticize the notion that justice is most effectively served in a wholly â€Å"international† context (dominated largely by Western mechanisms of accountability). Instead, hybrids emphasize the importance of local input in any long-term solution to post-atrocity transitional and restorative justice goals. The underlying raison d’à ©tre of a hybrid tribunal in Syria relies on the philosophical premise that post-atrocity accountability mechanisms should empower local governments and communities in order to achieve transitional and restorative justice goals. The import ance of local empowerment is especially significant in the wake of conflicts that occur within the borders of a state (i.e. civil wars). The languag... ...al infrastructure. However, the narrow mandate of the Syrian tribunal and its co-tribunals in Sierra Leone, Lebanon, and others, does not give effect to this problem. Assuming the mandate of the Syrian tribunal accords it jurisdiction over â€Å"perpetrators, organizers, sponsors, and indispensible accomplices,† consider the position of a member of the former, fallen political party that neglected to prevent the commission of atrocities but did not himself participate in them. Arguably, he may or may not â€Å"fall within the jurisdiction† of the international criminal tribunal for Syria, and amnesty laws may be recognized as a bar to prosecution. Ideally, amnesties would not be a necessary component of transition from pre- to post-conflict societies. However, a conditional limitation on the recognition of amnesties serves the more pragmatic interests of transitioning State.