In contrast, the defence team includes the counsel for the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, and a defence lawyer from the Special Court for Sierra Leone (which is trying Charles Taylor, Liberia's former president).

ECONOMIST: Justice, reconciliation��or score-settling?

Unlike the special court for Sierra Leone where the former Liberian president Charles Taylor is on trial, members of the public at the International Criminal Court (ICC) are on the same level as the court, and have an unobstructed view of the trial chamber.

BBC: Defiant Jean-Pierre Bemba gets his day in court

The prime examples are Cambodia, East Timor, and perhaps most successfully, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is dealing with the trial of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

BBC: Ten years, $900m, one verdict: Does the ICC cost too much?

Mrs Arroyo had her predecessor as president, Joseph Estrada, prosecuted for corruption, and the country's special court for trying graft cases, the Sandiganbayan, sentenced him to life in prison.

ECONOMIST: Corruption in the Philippines: Progress or payback? | The

Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said President Bush "doesn't have a blank check" to bypass a special court set up to approve secret wiretaps under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

CNN: Senators challenge Gonzales on spying

Scott's name came up again last week, with the release of a pile of memos from 1993 and 1994 in which she outlined ways to court the President's political supporters with visits to the White House mess, special policy briefings, trinkets, White House tours and the like.

CNN: Who Is Marsha Scott?

The president said he was open to additional measures to further regulate the drone program, including creating a special court system to regulate strikes, similar to one that signs off on government surveillance in espionage and terror cases.

NPR: Obama Sees Narrower Terror Threat, Defends Drones