Introduction -- Sources of International Law -- Relationship between International Law and Municipal Law -- Justice in Sierra Leone: Principal Agencies -- Justice in Sierra Leone: Subsidiary Agencies -- Jurisdiction: Nature, Scope, Dimensions and Complexities -- Universal Criminal Jurisdiction: Law and Practice in Sierra Leone -- Universal Civil Jurisdiction: Law and Practice in Sierra Leone -- Universal Jurisdiction: The Sierra Leone Profile – Problematic Features -- Universal Jurisdiction in Sierra Leone: Reform of the Law.

This book is about the combating of impunity from international criminality, with a special focus on the role of Sierra Leone as a pioneer in the progressive application of international criminal law in the African region. Despite Sierra Leone’s role, the country’s profile, both in terms of the incorporation and application of the doctrine of universal jurisdiction, is deficient in several major respects falling far short of its dual international obligation not to provide safe havens from justice for perpetrators of international crimes and to combat impunity from such crimogenic acts. Based on his vast experience in this field, the author provides the reader with a seminal scholarly work  articulating the existing state of the law in Sierra Leone and highlighting the deficiencies in the law and factors inhibiting the exercise of universal jurisdiction in this UN member state. He also proposes substantive and procedural law reforms in the state’s relevant law on the subject. The book is recommended reading for practitioners and scholars in international criminal law and related disciplines. Its accessibility is highly enhanced by relevant footnotes, tables and summaries of each chapter. Justice Bankole Thompson holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Cambridge. He is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice Studies, Eastern Kentucky University, USA. He was a Judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Currently, Justice Thompson is a Judge of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone, and a fellow of the Sierra Leone Institute of International Law.