Paper short abstract:

Mobile hearings in the DRC are significant to bring justice to the people in rural and remote areas. However, international actors' dominant role in the operation of mobile hearings creates detrimental consequences for the Congolese legal system which will be discussed in this presentation.

Paper long abstract:

Although gross human rights violations have been taking place in the DRC for over two decades, it was not until 2003 that the first efforts to reform the Congolese legal system were made with assistance coming from international actors to develop capabilities to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence crimes in conflict. This assistance is intensified in and exemplified by international actors' support of mobile hearings, a legal procedural mechanism within the Congolese legal system. Mobile hearings have an important role in increasing the engagement of local communities with the legal system by boosting the awareness and visibility of formal legal institutions and bolstering trust in the legal system of the DRC through local communities witnessing the prosecution of perpetrators and seeing the attention given to their problems by legal authorities. Although international actors' support of mobile hearings facilitates the prosecution of perpetrators, their dominant role created detrimental consequences for the Congolese legal system and on the prosecution of international crimes in the DRC. This presentation focusses on two consequences: selectivity, where the priorities of international actors have led to a disproportionate number of cases involving sexual violence being investigated compared to other serious crimes, and dependency, which created by not promoting sufficient capacity-building in the Congolese legal system to allow it to operate sustainably. This examination is significant to demonstrate how the Congolese legal system and the prosecution of international crimes in an African context are shaped by the interventions and influences of international actors.