At least 30 Cambodian judges past retirement age

Thursday, 05 July 2012
Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post

At least 30 judges and prosecutors, some of whom sit at the highest levels of the country’s judicial system, are older than the age at which civil servants must retire under Cambodian law, according to a document obtained by the Post yesterday.

The document, given to the Post by a lawyer from the Cambodian Bar Association who declined to be named, lists 24 judges and six prosecutors who exceed the mandated retirement age of 60.

They were all born between 1940 and 1952, according to the list.

OSJI urges further ECCC kickback investigation

Justice Watchdog Urges Further Kickback Investigation

Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29/06/2007

A tribunal watchdog has called on the UN to further investigate charges that Cambodian judges pay kickbacks to high-ranking officials in order to sit on the courts, while outlining a bevy of weaknesses that remain in the process to try former top Khmer Rouge leaders.

The Open Society Justice Initiative praised agreement on internal rules for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, but said the UNDP must ensure a recent audit of the courts' human resource management unit is acted upon.

OSJI's Cambodia Justice Initiative Director Long Panhavuth said the UNDP audit should be made public to quell doubts over kickbacks.

"If the report is not made public, then the people are still in doubt about the problem which has not been solved," he said. "So we believe that there should be an investigation to ensure the whole tribunal is just."

The courts have so far declined to release the audit.

In a June report, OSJI cited the courts failure to address "persistent allegations" of kickbacks as a threat to the credibility of the tribunal. It further cited "flaws in the Cambodian judicial selection process" and "delays and fractures between the national and international judges" as impediments to justice.

"Challenges" to the tribunal, OSJI said, included "maintaining the reality and appearance of independence and impartiality of the judiciary and other organs of the court; ensuring compliance with due process and fair trial standards; fostering transparency and public engagement; and improving overall capacity and effectiveness of operations."

"As the ECCC moves into its investigations phase, immediate steps must be taken on an array of issues," OSJI said, "including: getting the courtrooms ready for pre-trial hearings, which are expected to start in a few months; providing protection and support to potential witnesses; making the court's operations more accessible to the Cambodian public through enhanced outreach; and instituting more transparent reporting on the court's financial and administrative operations."

"Without prompt attention to these and other needs," OSJI said, "further delays will likely plague the court and erode public confidence."

OSJI has been involved in a row with the courts since it pointed out allegations of kickbacks in February. Government and court officials strongly denied the allegations, and a spokesman said the government had considered severing ties with the group or ejecting some of its members.

The OSJI report and statement Wednesday received little credence at the courts, ECCC spokesman Reach Sambath said Friday.

"Everyday, we do not work based on this report," he said. "We understand what we have to do. Some of the points [in the report] are unreasonable and are not being used. So, our goal is to have a good tribunal, and it will take a long time."

Cambodian Judges In Khmer Rouge Tribunal Say Ultimatum Uncalled For [- Stalling of KR Tribunal by PPenh seems to work]

April 6th 2007
DPA

The Cambodian judges appointed to the joint UN-Cambodian trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders issued a statement Friday accusing a proposed boycott by their international counterparts unnecessary and aimed at delaying the process.

The Cambodian judges reiterated earlier assertions that a row over fees the Cambodian bar wants to impose on foreign lawyers was not part of the internal rules and therefore should not delay their implementation.

They were replying to Tuesday's announcement by international judges that they would boycott a scheduled April 30 plenary to adopt the internal rules if the Cambodian Bar Association did not back down on its demands for 5,000-dollar registration fees for overseas lawyers wishing to represent clients at the hearings.

Tuesday's international judges' statement further threatened to exclude the Cambodian bar from the process if it continued to refuse to drop the fees. The defence says that would severely limit the number of foreign lawyers defendants can choose from, potentially compromising the international standards' caveat of the hearings.

The 56-million dollar joint UN-Cambodian tribunal, which began work last year and is budgeted to take just three years to complete, cannot proceed without adopting internal rules governing every aspect of the work of the special tribunals.

"The national judges appointed to the ECCC (tribunals) consider that the international judges' decision not to participate in the plenary session planned at the end this month would further delay the process of the court," the 15 national judges wrote.

"In response to the proposal to exclude the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia from the process, the national judges consider the such a move is not consistent with the substance and spirit of the Agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations.

The national judges also rejected claims by the international judges that the Defence Support Section of the tribunals was actively discussing solutions to the dilemma.

Bar Association president Ky Tech has said he will not back down on the fees, claiming foreign lawyers are far better paid than their Cambodian counterparts and that it was his duty to his members to impose what he believes are reasonable fees on foreigners wishing to practice law in Cambodia.

The latest impasse is just another in a long line of delays to try a handful of aging former leaders of the 1975 to 1979 Khmer Rouge regime, during which up to 2 million Cambodians died.

Donors have expressed increasing frustration at the lack of progress, fuelling speculation they may walk away altogether if issues are not resolved soon and the hearings begin to progress.

The Cambodian government has reacted angrily to allegations by some human rights groups that it is deliberately stalling the process, strongly denying the claims and in turn accusing lobby groups of trying to hijack the trials for their own political ends.

As expected, ECCC Cambodian judges side with the Cambodian Bar Association

Friday, April 6, 2007
Rift widens between Cambodian and foreign jurists of Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal

The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian judges for a Khmer Rouge genocidal tribunal have blamed their international peers for delaying the long-awaited trials.

The foreign judges decided earlier this week to boycott an April 30 meeting to adopt the rules that will guide the trials.

The Cambodian judicial team said in a statement received Friday that the decision was "regrettable" and "would further delay the process of the court." The statement was dated Thursday.

International judges announced their boycott in response to the Cambodian Bar Association's decision to impose fees on foreign lawyers wishing to participate in the trials.

Many fear that internal disputes could delay efforts to bring the Khmer Rouge's few surviving leaders to trial for crimes against humanity for the deaths of about 1.7 million people during the group's 1975-79 rule. The U.N.-backed tribunal, led by Cambodian and international judges, was expected to begin this year.

The Bar Association has said it will impose US$4,900 (€3,700) of fees on each foreign lawyer practicing at the tribunal.

Ky Tech, the association's president, has repeatedly refused to bow to what he has called pressure from the foreign judges.

He has also accused them of childish behavior and of deliberately delaying the long-awaited tribunal.