‘In the long term, the Special Criminal Court is a stabilizing factor because it aims to break the cycle of violence’

Abstract The Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Central African Republic (CAR) is a unique institution whose creation, operation and jurisprudence raise critical and thought-provoking questions, yet paradoxically it has garnered relatively little academic attention. This gap in scholarly inquiry prompted our symposium, which assesses the SCC’s achievements and ongoing challenges at a crucial juncture, with far-reaching implications for both transitional justice in CAR and the broader landscape of international criminal law. In the spirit of constructive debate, we invited key SCC stakeholders, alongside respected academics and specialists in transitional justice, to offer us their thoughts on the Court. From Bangui, on 27 September 2024, Patience Guerengbo, for many years a magistrate in CAR and currently President of the SCC Investigative Chamber,1 joined the co-convenors of the symposium, Patryk Labuda and Jérôme de Hemptinne, for an interview to share his views on the challenges of conducting investigations in CAR’s volatile context. The interview was conducted in French and has been translated into English by the co-convenors.