# Authoritative sources — STL

Sources that may be cited, and how to access them.

## Tier 1 — primary, authoritative

### stl-tsl.org — the legacy website

Following the closure of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on **31 December 2023**, the official website `stl-tsl.org` is preserved as a legacy archive under the management of the residual mechanism. It hosts:
- The Statute of the STL and the UN-Lebanon Agreement
- All major decisions, indictments, judgments, and orders in all cases
- The Rules of Procedure and Evidence (every version)
- Case Information Sheets (CIS) for each accused, summarising the procedural history
- Press releases, transcripts of hearings (in English, French and Arabic for many), and Court records
- The "Court Records" section searchable by case number and filing number
- The Victims' Participation Unit materials

**Access patterns:**
- Statute and Agreement: `https://stl-tsl.org/en/documents/statute-of-the-tribunal`
- Case Information Sheets: `https://stl-tsl.org/sites/default/files/documents/cis/[Name]_Case_Info_Sheet_EN.pdf`
- Decisions and judgments: `https://stl-tsl.org/en/the-cases/[case-name]/` and subfolders
- Rules of Procedure and Evidence: `https://stl-tsl.org/en/documents/rpe-of-the-stl`

**The site is preserved but no longer actively maintained**. If a particular page returns an error, try the Wayback Machine (`https://web.archive.org/web/*/stl-tsl.org/*`) or fall back to legal-tools.org.

### legal-tools.org — ICC Legal Tools Database

The ICC Legal Tools Database mirrors STL principal decisions. Navigate via "Other International(ised) Criminal Jurisdictions" > "Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)". The collection includes all principal decisions and judgments from Ayyash et al., Merhi, the 2011 Interlocutory Decision, the contempt cases, and STL-18-10. Stable PDF format with permanent IDs.

### UN sources

- **un.org/sc** for the founding instruments — UN Security Council Resolutions 1644 (15 December 2005), 1664 (29 March 2006), 1686 (15 June 2006), 1757 (30 May 2007, establishing the STL), and subsequent extension resolutions
- **un.org/securitycouncil** for the Reports of the Secretary-General on the establishment and operations of the STL (S/2005/203, S/2006/176, S/2006/893, etc.)
- **UN Audiovisual Library of International Law** (`https://legal.un.org/avl/`) for the introductory note to the Statute (by Sir Daniel Bethlehem or successor commentator)

## Tier 2 — secondary (must be labelled when used)

### Academic commentary

- **Antonio Cassese** (the STL's first President, who delivered the 2011 Interlocutory Decision) — *International Criminal Law*, 3rd ed., Oxford 2013, and his last writings on the Tribunal
- **Michael P. Scharf** — *Customary International Law in Times of Fundamental Change: Recognizing Grotian Moments* (CUP 2013) — the principal defence of the 2011 Interlocutory Decision's customary law finding
- **Marko Milanović** — "An Odd Couple: Domestic Crimes and International Responsibility in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon", JICJ 2007 — early critique
- **Sergey Vasiliev** — extensive analysis of the Interlocutory Decision in JICJ
- **Ben Saul** — *Defining Terrorism in International Law* (OUP 2008, 2nd ed.) — the leading study, sharply critical of the STL's reasoning
- **Kai Ambos** — *Treatise on International Criminal Law*, OUP, multiple volumes touching STL doctrine
- **Claus Kress** — substantial writings on the customary international law question
- **Amal Clooney & Philippa Webb** — *The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law* (OUP 2020) — includes detailed treatment of in absentia at the STL
- **Gabriel Oosthuizen & Robert Schaeffer** (eds.) — *Defending Hariri's Murderers in Absentia: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon* (Brill 2019)
- **Bernhard Kuschnik** — comprehensive scholarly treatment of STL procedure

### Journals

- **Journal of International Criminal Justice** (Oxford) — symposium issues on STL (in particular Vol. 9(5) 2011 on the Interlocutory Decision)
- **Leiden Journal of International Law**
- **European Journal of International Law**
- **American Journal of International Law**

### Trial monitoring and NGOs

- **Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)** — Lebanon-side civil society monitoring
- **Justice Without Frontiers** — Lebanon-based legal NGO
- **International Crisis Group** — political-context reporting
- **JusticeInfo.net** — trial reporting

### Journalism

- **Naharnet** (Lebanon, English)
- **L'Orient-Le Jour** (Lebanon, French)
- **Daily Star** (Lebanon, English, archival)

## Never authoritative

Wikipedia, Grokipedia, social media, AI-generated summaries, blogs (unless from a serious scholar in a formally attributable context — in which case treat as Tier 2). If one of these is the only source, the proposition is unverified.

## A note on languages

STL proceedings were conducted in English, French, and Arabic. Many filings exist in all three languages; the **English version is typically treated as authoritative for international scholarship** but where the original speaker spoke Arabic or French, the original-language version may matter for interpretation. The Statute exists in English, French, and Arabic authentic texts (Statute Art. 30); legal-tools.org hosts the English version by default. If citing the Arabic or French version of a decision, identify it.