Reaching for justice: The participation of victims at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

This policy paper is based on research in Cambodia,
assessing the activities and strategies regarding
participation of victims before the Extraordinary
Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), funded
by the University of East London Promising Researcher
grant.1 It is hoped by the international community and by
Cambodian civil society that the participation of victims
will play a key part in ensuring that the ECCC has a lasting
impact on Cambodia. The ECCC, in common with other
hybrid tribunals, is expected to engage the affected
society and victims, since it is located within the country
rather than based elsewhere as the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal
Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) are. This policy paper
reviews how the victim participation process functioned
during the first case and the preparation for the second
case at the ECCC, and offers insights to improve practice
at the ECCC and other courts that are undertaking other
forms of victim participation.

Citation:
Herman, J. (2010) ‘Reaching for justice: The participation of victims at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’ Centre on Human Rights in Conflict Policy Paper No. 5, September 2010 pp.1-8.