For Judicial Justice and Reconciliation in Cambodia: Reflections upon the Establishment of the Khmer Rouge Trials and the Trials’ Procedural Rules 2007

Abstract

[Several governments have issued laws to control and restrict public foreign investment, mainly Sovereign Wealth Foreign investments. The aim of this article is to examine if these legislation might be challenged under international investment agreements. First, it reviews whether States entities can be considered as protected investors under these agreements. Second, because much of this legislation denies or restricts access of the investment to the country, the author describes the different admission regimes provided in investment agreements, and examines the issue of arbitrability of denial of admission disputes., This article reflects upon principal administrative issues regarding the Khmer Rouge Trials, put into motion in 2007 for judging Cambodia’s former national leaders for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity. It examines in particular the establishment phase in 2006‐2007, focusing upon the drafting work of the Trials’ internal procedural rules adopted in June 2007. In the author’s view, most issues of the Trials derive from their hybrid formation, composed of international and local components, as well as their setting, in principle, within a weak local judicial framework. This issue is examined in general terms. The article specifically covers institutional issues, such as the recruitment of legal and administrative officers and the need to coordinate international and local components. It also deals with procedural issues, based upon the Trials’ newly enacted procedural rules, such as due process assurance, detention, victim support, and defence. This article provides prescriptions for these issues by proposing a practical mechanism to settle differences of position, particularly between international and local administrative components, as well as a body composed of international donors, which may amicably monitor and provide advice for the administration of the trials.]