Justice in Cambodia: Past, Present, and Future (Book Review)

Posted: 14 Sep 2008

See all articles by Margaret M. deGuzman

Margaret M. deGuzman

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law

Date Written: September, 12 2008

Abstract

For almost three decades, justice has proven elusive for the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide that killed approximately 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979. Recently however, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) have undertaken criminal trials of a handful of the genocide's most senior leaders. The creation of the ECCC represents the culmination of a lengthy and complex political process, involving myriad national and international actors. At the international level, governmental and non-governmental forces galvanized around a solidifying transnational norm rejecting impunity for atrocities to pressure the Cambodian government to pursue justice. At the same time, the Cambodian government was reluctant to cede substantial sovereignty by agreeing to a purely international tribunal along the lines of those established for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The result is a hybrid court that joins a handful of other tribunals combining national and international elements to provide a new model for the pursuit of justice for mass atrocities.

The ECCC's place at the intersection of national and international law has stimulated a vibrant scholarly discussion about the court's potential impact on norms of justice and accountability in Cambodia as well as its contributions to the evolving field of international criminal law. This book review assesses the contributions to that discussion of the impressive volume Bringing the Khmer Rouge to Justice: Prosecuting Mass Violence Before the Cambodian Courts, edited by Jaya Ramji and Beth Van Schaack. The book delivers on its editors' promise to both explore the legal and political challenges facing the ECCC and provide a window into the broader questions at the heart of the evolving system of international criminal law. As such, it provides an excellent primer for those interested in the quest for justice in Cambodia as well as those engaged in other national or international efforts at accountability for mass atrocities.

Suggested Citation

deGuzman, Margaret M., Justice in Cambodia: Past, Present, and Future (Book Review) (September, 12 2008). Criminal Law Forum, Vol. 19, No. 2, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1267353

Margaret M. DeGuzman (Contact Author)

Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law ( email )

1719 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
United States

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