James O'Toole
The Phnom Penh Post
JUDGES at the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Thursday partially granted an appeal by defence teams against the use of Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE), a controversial kind of criminal liability that could aid the prosecution at trial.
In a decision dated Thursday, the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber ruled on the use of the three forms of JCE in Case 002, upholding the use of types I and II but rejecting the third and most far-reaching.
Though Pre-Trial Chamber decisions cannot be appealed, the issue may be raised again before the Trial Chamber. Case 002 is expected to go before the Trial Chamber in early 2011.
Anne Heindel, a legal adviser at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said that even though the Trial Chamber is not bound by the 69-page decision, it may nonetheless “find it very persuasive”.
Michael Karnavas, the international co-lawyer for Ieng Sary, called the ruling a “wise and courageous decision” in an email on Thursday.
The court’s Co-Investigating Judges ruled in December that JCE, under which suspects can be held responsible for crimes committed as part of a common plan, could be applicable for international criminal charges at the tribunal.
The first form of JCE may apply when participants share intent to commit a crime, the second when a criminal plan is implemented in “a common concerted system of ill-treatment”, and the third when crimes occur as a “natural and foreseeable” consequence of a common plan.
Under the third form, for example, four people who plan to rob a bank together could all be charged with murder if one of them shoots a security guard, even if this shooting was not part of the original plan.
The Pre-Trial Chamber said Thursday that this third form was not “part of customary international law at the time relevant to Case 002”, and thus should not be applied.
Heindel said the third form of JCE could play a crucial role in the prosecution’s Case 002 argument if its use is permitted.
“The whole reason you have JCE III is so that you can make that link between senior leaders and lower-level perpetrators,” she said. “If this is the final ruling, it will make it much harder for the prosecution to tell the full story of all the crimes that happened in Cambodia and to link what happened at the lower level to the centre.”
In a decision dated Thursday, the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber ruled on the use of the three forms of JCE in Case 002, upholding the use of types I and II but rejecting the third and most far-reaching.
Though Pre-Trial Chamber decisions cannot be appealed, the issue may be raised again before the Trial Chamber. Case 002 is expected to go before the Trial Chamber in early 2011.
Anne Heindel, a legal adviser at the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said that even though the Trial Chamber is not bound by the 69-page decision, it may nonetheless “find it very persuasive”.
Michael Karnavas, the international co-lawyer for Ieng Sary, called the ruling a “wise and courageous decision” in an email on Thursday.
The court’s Co-Investigating Judges ruled in December that JCE, under which suspects can be held responsible for crimes committed as part of a common plan, could be applicable for international criminal charges at the tribunal.
The first form of JCE may apply when participants share intent to commit a crime, the second when a criminal plan is implemented in “a common concerted system of ill-treatment”, and the third when crimes occur as a “natural and foreseeable” consequence of a common plan.
Under the third form, for example, four people who plan to rob a bank together could all be charged with murder if one of them shoots a security guard, even if this shooting was not part of the original plan.
The Pre-Trial Chamber said Thursday that this third form was not “part of customary international law at the time relevant to Case 002”, and thus should not be applied.
Heindel said the third form of JCE could play a crucial role in the prosecution’s Case 002 argument if its use is permitted.
“The whole reason you have JCE III is so that you can make that link between senior leaders and lower-level perpetrators,” she said. “If this is the final ruling, it will make it much harder for the prosecution to tell the full story of all the crimes that happened in Cambodia and to link what happened at the lower level to the centre.”
4 comments:
It's about time for Khmers living outside Cambodia to tell your brother, sisters, cousin, and all your friends living inside Cambodia to rises up against a dictatorship regime. Wake up Cambodian if you want to have basic right and freedom of speech you MUST stand up for your self.
"Fill your mind with compassion."Lord Buddha!
THE DAYS FOR HUN SEN NOW COUNTING END DAY
Posted by United Khmers, Khmer Krom and Khmer Leu on 2003-07-11 08:23:01
Adios Sadead HunSen and Long Dictatorship Live Cambodia !!! Like Marcos of the Philippines, Suharto of Indonesia, Milosevic of Yugoslavia, Saddam of Iraq, Hun Sen must be disarmed immediately without prior notice, no resolutions required !!! He must be removed and legal charges of abuse, corruption, attrocites, killings, murders, stolen properties, treason, selling away Cambodia and more, all levelled against him. Not just him, but all his families, his relatives and his very Croonies. He must be wiped out from the face of Cambodia now.
Hun Sen and his Croonies ( future will be alike Saddam Hussen ), Either he like it or not his life, future and his families futures will the same as Saddam Hussen, Ferdenard Marcos, Surharto, Milosevic, and Pol Pot. Sick – A sickly man, a sickening man, trying to govern a decent country for so many years Ass - You know the meaning of an ass, some call it urse Dictator - Tyrant, iron fist ruler, no regard for humanity Died - Many thousands innocent adult and children died in his hands, in the hands of his cronies Autocratic - One man ruler, his word is law, his citizens are slaves Money - Billions and millions stolen in his coffers, thief, robber, strip his country bare Hungry - While he lavish in palaces, his people live in never ending poverty, not knowing when is their next meal Usurp - He did not come to power legitimately, he stole someone's power Sadist - Finds deep pleasure in cruelty, in making others really miserable Sucks - Need to be wiped out from history Enemy - Number one enemy of the country, number one enemy of his people International - International criminal, known for all his hidden crimes, attrocites, murders, killings, kidnappings and so on Neurotic - So unsure of his life, seeing doubles all the time, preparing for his very end you will find similarity to one in Cambodia, it is non other than Sadead HunSen. - The same fate to Hitler, Stalin and others alike. A known outcome for every dictator and his very cronies. There will be no place, no air, not even as a refugee. They rule by power, by fear, by deception. All to themselves and their cronies. Sadead HunSen Will have to start counting his ending days. It will come with a swift sweep. Because a New Era, A New Cambodia will be born really soon. In total unity, this will be for the people and to the people of Cambodia. Composer by: UnitedKhmer .
UnitedKhmer,
Who would be the best leader for Cambodia ?? Do you have any body in mind ?
I am living in the US I don't know who would be the best one.
All Cambodian do not want the country fall into the situation like the KR. When the KR won the war, they did not know how to run the country.
We all can promote that person if you can find one.
Base on this doctrine, none of these KR leaders will be convicted.
Just like in the US, for all the killing in Iraq, President Bush was not responsible for it.
And most of the Cambodian will not except these kind of verdict.
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