Using International Criminal Law to Resist Transitional Justice

Legal Rupture in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

in Conflict and Society
Author:
Mikael Baaz University of Gothenburg mikael.baaz@law.gu.se

Search for other papers by Mikael Baaz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
and
Mona Lilja Karlstad University mona.lilja@gu.se

Search for other papers by Mona Lilja in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

ABSTRACT

An increasing body of literature focuses on negotiations of transitional justice, but not much has been written so far regarding contestations over its practices and the refusal of states and individuals to participate. Given the remaining legalistic dominance, this is particularly true regarding the field of international criminal law. Very little, if any, work in international criminal law engages with the topic of “resistance.” Departing from this gap in research, focusing on Cambodia and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the objective of this article is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the “strategy of rupture”—as developed by the late French lawyer Jacques Vergès—and the ways in which this legal defense has been applied in practice at the ECCC in order to resist not only the Tribunal per se, but also the entire Cambodian transitional justice process and, by extension, the post–Cold War global liberal project.

Contributor Notes

MIKAEL BAAZ is an associate professor in peace and conflict studies and a senior lecturer in international law at the School of Business, Economics and Law, the University of Gothenburg. His core research interest is various aspects of international society, in particular international law and international criminal law. His articles appear in inter alia: Journal of International Relations and Development, International Studies Review, Asian Politics and Polity, Journal of Political Power, Global Public Health, Peace Review, Journal on the Use of Force and International Law, Asian Journal of International Law, Scandinavian Studies in Law, Leiden Journal of International Law, Journal of Resistance Studies, International Journal on Constitutional Law, and Journal of International Criminal Justice. He has also contributed to several edited books, including Ethical Reasoning in International Affairs: Arguments from the Middle Ground, edited by Cornelia Navari (2013), and Progressivism and US Foreign Policy: American Thinkers on Peace and War during the Interwar Period, edited by Molly Cochran and Cornelia Navari (2016, forthcoming), both published by Palgrave Macmillan.

MONA LILJA is a professor in sociology at Karlstad University. Her research interests include resistance studies and gender studies. She has published widely internationally and her articles appear in, for example, Journal of Political Power, Asian Politics and Policy, NORA: Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, Feminist Review, Asian Journal of Political Science, Global Public Health and Signs. Her published monographs include Resisting Gendered Norms: Civil Society, the Juridical and Political Space in Cambodia and Power (Ashgate, 2013) and Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia (Nias Press, 2008).

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Conflict and Society

Advances in Research

  • Associated Press. 2008. “Lawyer Scolds Cambodia Tribunal Judges.” New York Times, 24 April.

  • Baaz, Mikael. 2015a. “Dissident Voices in International Criminal Law.” Leiden Journal of International Law 28, no. 3: 673689.

  • Baaz, Mikael. 2015b. “The ‘Dark Side’ of International Criminal Law: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.” Law and Development, Scandinavian Studies in Law 60: 157186.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Baaz, Mikael. 2015c. “Bringing the Khmer Rouge to Trial: An Extraordinary Experiment in International Criminal Law.” Comparative Law, Scandinavian Studies in Law 61: 291338.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Baaz, Mikael, and Mona Lilja. 2014. “Understanding Hybrid Democracy in Cambodia: The Nexus Between Liberal Democracy, the State, Civil Society, and a ‘Politics of Presence.’Asian Politics and Policy 6, no. 1: 524.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Berdal, Mats, and Michael Leifer. 1996. “Cambodia.” Pp. 2558 in The New Interventionism, 1991–1994: United Nations Experience in Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia and Somalia, ed. J. Mayall. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Buckley-Zistel, Susanne, and Magdalena Zolkos. 2012. “Introduction: Gender in Transitional Justice.” Pp. 136 in Gender in Transitional Justice, ed. S. Buckley-Zistel and M. Zolkos. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gillison, Douglas. 2007. “KR Tribunal Swears in French Lawyer Verges”. Cambodia Daily, 13 December.

  • Chandler, David. 1999. The Tragedy of Cambodian History: Politics, War, and Revolution since 1945. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

  • Chandler, David. 2008. A History of Cambodia. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

  • Christodoulidis, Emilios. 2009. “Strategies of Rupture.” Law and Critique 20, no. 1: 326.

  • Ciorciari, John D. 2006. “Introduction.” Pp. 1127 in The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, ed. J. D. Ciorciari. Phnom Penh: DC-Cam.

  • Ciorciari, John D. 2009. “History and Politics Behind the Khmer Rouge Trials.” Pp. 3384 in On Trial: The Khmer Rouge Accountability Process, ed. J. D. Ciorciari, and A. Hendel. Phnom Penh: Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Couzens Hoy, D. 2005. Critical Resistance: From Poststructuralism to Post-Critique. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

  • Cox, Robert W. 1986: “Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory.” Pp. 204254 in Neorealism and Its Critics, ed. R. O. Keohane. New York: Columbia University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law. 2015. Research Network. http://www.caicl.net (accessed 21 April 2015).

  • Duffield, Mark. 2001. Global Governance and the New Wars: The Merging of Development and Security. London: Zed Books.

  • Franke, Katherine M. 2006. “Gendered Subjects of Transitional Justice.” Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 15, no. 3: 813828.

  • Gottesman, Evan R. 2003. Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge: Inside the Politics of Nation Building. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

  • Hollander, Jocelyn A., and Rachel L. Einwohner. 2004. “Conceptualizing Resistance.” Sociological Forum 19, no. 4: 533554.

  • Jones, Briony, Julie Bernath, and Sandra Rubli. 2013. “Reflections on a Research Agenda for Exploring Resistance to Transitional Justice.” Swisspeace, Working Paper 3.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kaplan, Alice Y. 1992. “On Alain Finkielkraut’s ‘Remembering in Vain’: The Klaus Barbie Trial and Crimes against Humanity.” Critical Inquiry 19, no. 1: 7086.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kiernan, Ben. 2008. The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–1979. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Koskenniemi, Martti. 2006. From Apology to Utopia: The Structure of International Legal Argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Koskenniemi, Martti. 2011. The Politics of International Law. Oxford: Hart.

  • Lilja, Mona, and Stellan Vinthagen. 2009a. “Inledning [Introduction].” Pp. 1124 in Motstånd [Resistance], ed. M. Lilja and S. Vinthagen. Malmö: Liber.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lilja, Mona, and Stellan Vinthagen. 2009b. “Maktteorier [Theories of Power].” Pp. 2546 in Motstånd [Resistance], ed. M. Lilja and S. Vinthagen. Malmö: Liber.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lilja, Mona, and Stellan Vinthagen. 2009c. “Motståndsteorier [Theories of Resistance].” Pp. 4794 in Motstånd [Resistance], ed. M. Lilja and S. Vinthagen. Malmö: Liber.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lilja, Mona, Mikael Baaz, and Stellan Vinthagen. 2013. “Exploring ‘Irrational’ Resistance, Journal of Political Power 6, no. 2: 201217.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lilja, Mona, and Stellan Vinthagen. 2014. “Sovereign Power, Disciplinary Power and Biopower: Resisting What Power with What Resistance?Journal of Political Power 7, no. 1: 107126.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Lyotard, Jean-François. 1988. The Differend: Phrases in Dispute. Trans. Georges Van Den Abbeele. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • McDermid, Charles, and Vong Sokheng. 2006. “‘Devil’s Advocate’ Pays Visit to KRT.” Phnom Penh Post, 8 September.

  • McEvoy, Kieran. 2007. “Beyond Legalism: Towards a Thicker Understanding of Transitional Justice.” Journal of Law and Society 34, no. 4: 411440.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • McFadden, Robert D. 2013. “Jaqcues Vergès, Defender of Terrorist and War Criminals, Is Dead at 88.” New York Times, 16 August 2013.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Minkkinen, Panu. 2013. “Critical Legal ‘Method’ as Attitude.” Pp. 119138 in Research Methods in Law, ed. D. Watkins and M. Burton. Abingdon: Routledge.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nagy, Rosemary. 2008. “Transitional Justice as Global Project: Critical Reflections.” Third World Quarterly 29, no. 2: 275289.

  • Newman, Edward R., Roland Paris, and Oliver P. Richmond. 2009. “Introduction.” Pp. 325 in New Perspectives on Liberal Peacebuilding, ed. E. Newman, R. Paris, and O. P. Richmond. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Ponchaud, François. 1978. Cambodia: Year Zero. Trans. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

  • Pugh, Michael. 2004. “Peacekeeping and Critical Theory.” International Peacekeeping 11, no. 1: 3958.

  • Reus-Smit, Christian. 2014. “International Law.” Pp. 274288 in The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, ed. J. Baylis, S. Smith, and P. Owens. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Rubli, Sandra. 2012. Transitional Justice: Justice by Bureaucratic Means? Swisspeace, Working Paper 4.

  • Sandberg, Brita, and Eric Follath. 2008. “Interview with Notorious Lawyer Jacques Vergès: ‘There Is No Such Thing as Absolute Evil.’Der Spiegel, 21 November.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Schwöbel, Christine. 2014. “The Market and Marketing Culture of International Criminal Law.” Pp. 264280 in Critical Approaches to International Criminal Law, ed. C. Schwöbel. New York: Routledge.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Shklar, Judith. 1964. Legalism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Sriram Lekha, Chandra. 2007. “Justice as Peace? Liberal Peacebuilding and Strategies of Transitional Justice.” Global Society 21, no. 4: 579591.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Tenove, Chris. 2008. “Meeting the Devil’s Advocate: An Interview with Jaqcues Vergès. Justice in Conflict.” http://justiceinconflict.org/2013/08/26/meeting-the-devils-advocate-an-interview-with-jacques-verges (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Widell, Jonathan. 2012. “Jaqcues Vergès, Devils Advocate: A Psychohistory of Vergès Judicial Strategy.” LLD diss., McGill University.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • C26/5. Transcript of Khieu Samphan Appeal Hearing on 3 April 2009: 4546. http://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/documents/courtdoc/C26_5_TR002_20090403_KS_Final_EN_Pub.pdf (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • C26/5/2. Public Warning to International Co-Lawyer, 19 May 2009. http://www.worldcourts.com/eccc/eng/decisions/2009.05.19_Co_Prosecutors_v_Khieu_Samphan.pdf (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • ECCC. 2015a. “Why Are We Having Trials Now? How Will the Khmer Rouge Trials Benefit the People of Cambodia?http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/faq/why-are-we-having-trials-now-how-will-khmer-rouge-trials-benefit-people-cambodia (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • ECCC. 2015b. “Case 002/01 Judgment.” http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/case/topic/1294 (accessed 21 April 2015).

  • ECCC. 2015c. “Defence Team Khieu Samphan.” http://www.eccc.gov.kh/en/indicted-person/khieu-samphan (accessed 21 April 2015).

  • ECCC Internal Rules, 9th rev. ed. http://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/legal-documents/Internal_Rules_Rev_9_Eng.pdf (accessed 21 April 2015).

  • ECCC Law. Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers, with inclusion of amendments as promulgated on 27 October 2004 (NS/RKM/1004/006). Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers for the Prosecution of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • E1/232.1. Public Transcripts of Trial Proceedings, Trial Day 219, 22 October 2013. http://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/documents/courtdoc/2013-12-23%2011:24/E1_232.1_TR002_20131022_Final_EN_Pub.pdf (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • E1/234.1. Public Transcripts of Trial Proceedings, Trial Day 221, 25 October 2013. http://www.eccc.gov.kh/sites/default/files/documents/courtdoc/2013-11-12%2013:07/E1_234.1_TR002_20131025_Final_EN_Pub.pdf (accessed 21 April 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • UN. 2015. “Cambodia, UNAMIC, Background.” http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamicbackgr.html (accessed 28 August 2015).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • UN Peacekeeping. 2015. “Post Cold-War Surge.” http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/surge.shtml (accessed 28 August 2015).

  • Agreement between the RGC and the UN. 2003. Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia Concerning the Prosecution under Cambodian Law of Crimes Committed during the Period of Democratic Kampuchea.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • United Nations, S/RES/745, 28 February 1992.

  • United Nations, S/RES/718, 31 October 1991.

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 612 357 85
Full Text Views 33 3 0
PDF Downloads 20 5 0