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 The BBC's Mark Devenport at the UN in New York"The child soldiers prosecution presents a terrible dilemma"  real 28k |
After a series of protests from child welfare groups a provision to put child soldiers on trial will only be allowed on a UN go-ahead.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed that the new court should have the power to try both adults and teenage child soldiers for crimes committed during the country's civil war.
But that the UN security council would make the final decision on whether teenagers aged between 15 and 18 should face prosecution.
No prison
Lawyers, including those within the United Nations itself, argued that the estimated 5,400 child fighters in Sierra Leone are themselves the victims of abusive commanders who abducted them, drugged them and forced them to kill.
 Lawyers say child soldiers are abused themselves |
UN officials have defended the move by making it clear that the teenagers, if found guilty, would not be imprisoned.
The court, which would have its seat in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown, would handle the most serious breaches of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity dating back to 1996 from one of Africa's most brutal conflicts.
While Sierra Leone's civil war began in 1991, the report recommended that the court's jurisdiction extend back only to 1996, to avoid overburdening the proceedings.
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