The Dichotomy between Judicial Economy and Equality of Arms within International and Internationalized Criminal Trials: A Defense Perspective

This paper focusses on the new and emerging area of judicial economy within trials before international and internationalized criminal tribunals. Although the principle of equality of arms in general has been developed within these proceedings through specifically the case law of the ICTY and ICTR, the convergence of this principle with the emerging notion of judicial economy remains rather underdeveloped. Yet, from a defense perspective, an analysis of the interrelationship between these two phenomena is of perennial importance. This article focusses on this relationship based upon recent case law of the ICTY and European Court on Human Rights taking into account the practical experiences of the implementation of equality of arms before the Special court for Sierra Leone.