He faces 11 charges, including murder, rape and torture, at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague.

Prosecutors say he led rebels who carried out the atrocities during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war.

Mr Taylor, who denies the charges, is expected to give evidence in his own defence on Tuesday.

He is the first African leader to be tried by an international court.

Claire Carlton-Hanciles, of the court's defence office, told the BBC that Mr Taylor was ready to defend himself.

"Mr Taylor is ready and his lawyers who were employed by the office have ensured that that they have prepped him for the past month-and-a-half," she said.

"I saw Mr Taylor about two days ago. He is in high spirits."

In May, judges rejected a request by Mr Taylor's defence team to acquit him because of a lack of evidence.

The prosecution says Mr Taylor planned atrocities committed by Revolutionary United Front rebels during the civil war, which ended in 2002.

The charges relate to terrorising the civilian population and include physical violence such as the cutting off of limbs.

Mr Taylor started Liberia's civil war as a warlord in 1989 being elected president in 1997.

After a period of exile in Nigeria, he was eventually extradited from Liberia in 2006.

The trial, being held by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, was moved to the Netherlands from Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, amid fears it could create instability in the country and neighbouring Liberia.