ra’s blog

Some foreign judges for the Khmer Rouge trials may back out if they cannot compromise with the Cambodian judges on the current disagreements, reported International Herald Tribune and The New York Times January 25.

The New York Times cited the tribunal’s Cambodian coordinator Sean Visoth as saying, “If there is no compromise and there is no plenary, the international judges will walk away.” “A [Review Committee] of nine judges is trying to resolve the differences,” continued the newspaper.

The United Nation, however, issued a press release the next day, reporting a little more optimism among observers about the progress in the talks. The 9-judge Review Committee “has made progress over the last two weeks” although several ‘major issues’ still need to be resolved, a United Nations spokesman said.

Farhan Haq told reporters in New York, “Solid progress was made during the two-week session of the Review Committee, significantly narrowing differences on a number of issues. Nevertheless, there remain several major issues to be fully resolved.”

A further meeting of the Review Committee is scheduled for March, wrote the Press Release.

The deadlock of the trials stemmed from a number of issues, including (1) the way in which Cambodian and international law can be integrated into the Internal Rules to ensure a transparent and fair registration process and full rights of audience for foreign defence counsel and (2) proposed checks and balances that would allow the foreign and Cambodian judges to veto each other’s decisions.

Sources:

(2007, January 26). Cambodia: Progress in Khmer Rouge but ‘major issues’ remain: UN spokesman. UN Press Release. Retrieved January 27, 2007 from the UN Homepage.

Haboubi, G. (2007, January 26). Foreign judges in Khmer Rouge genocide trial may step down over procedures. University of Pittsburg: Legal News. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from the University of Pittsburg website.

Mydans, S. (2007, January 25). Dispute Threatens Trial of Khmer Rouge Leaders. The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2007 from The New York Times website.