| Abstract | The Lomé Peace Agreement of 7 July 1999 officially ended Sierra Leone's eight-year civil war, granted amnesty to combatants and provided for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to facilitate the country's healing process. Following renewed fighting, the government of Sierra Leone, with the assistance of the United Nations, established a special tribunal to try the most culpable violators of international humanitarian law and laws of Sierra Leone. The article considers the relationship between these two organizations and compares their legal mandates and jurisdictional scopes. It also examines the admissibility before the special court of testimony delivered in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearing. Although much intellectual and political energy has been expended by the United Nations and by international and national non governmental organizations on the issue of the 'relationship' ever since the proposal to create a special court was first mooted, most of the discussion and the ensuing proposals have not proven to be particularly helpful. Observers in the field continue to report that people in Sierra Leone are confused about the distinctions between the two bodies.
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