A short course on the Khmer Rouge Trial with co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde: who does what?

Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 20/03/2008: Marcel Lemonde, co-Investigating Judge at the ECCC. Behind him on the wall, an aerial photograph of Tuol Sleng. (Photo: John Vink/ Magnum)

17-03-2009
By Stéphanie Gée
Ka-set

The judicial system of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) leaves more than one perplexed, and even has some of the Court’s protagonists baffled. The hybrid tribunal is indeed the first internationalised jurisdiction based on Civil Law, also known as Romano-Germanic legal system, when until now what always prevailed was Common Law. Landmarks are somewhat changed, particularly with the introduction of Investigating Judges and the possibility for victims to constitute themselves as Civil Parties. The court’s Internal Rules, amended and completed with every Plenary Session of the judicial staff, set the rules of the game step by step and the limits of each party’s role. However, a few elements still remain unclear to this day. In order to shed some light on the whole process, co-Investigating Judge Marcel Lemonde, who trained in Civil Law, accepted to evaluate the system and focus on 4 themes elaborated by Ka-set, so as to provide, in the most pedagogical way, some clarity on some of the court’s main mechanisms.

Click to Read More...