ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, a criminal tribunal held in Cambodia with international assistance. Fully operational since 2007, the ECCC tries “senior leaders” and those most responsible for serious crimes committed in Cambodia between April 1975 and January 1979. These dates refer to the infamous historical period of “Democratic Kampuchea,” being the name given to the country by the Khmer Rouge during their nearly four-year rule. In this chapter we set out the rationale and legal functioning of the tribunal, before turning to a discussion of the politics and geopolitics of the initial negotiation of the tribunal, as well as its progress to date. Following this, we comment on the historic role played by victims in this legal process-a world first in tribunals of this kind-finishing with a discussion of reparations measures and the contested social and political legacy of the ECCC.
