Cambodia cuts fees, clears last hurdle to Khmer Rouge tribunal

Apr 30, 2007, 9:47 GMT


Phnom Penh - The final hurdle preventing a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders appears to have been cleared Monday with international judges accepting a lower fee for foreign attorneys proposed by the Cambodian Bar Association (CBA).

The CBA agreed to cut registration fees for international defence lawyers to 500 dollars from 5,000 dollars, according to a statement released through the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

Wrangling over the fee resulted in judges boycotting a plenary meeting scheduled for Monday to pass internal rules, renewing fears that the trials would be delayed yet again.

'The international judges are confident that this fee will not hinder international lawyers, particularly those working in a pro bono capacity, from registering with the Cambodian Bar and taking part in the historic work of the Extraordinary Chambers,' said the statement.

The plenary is now expected to be held the last week of May. The internal rules govern every aspect of the tribunal from witness protection issues to the heights of judges' chairs, and despite officially being set in motion last July, the trials could not proceed without them.

Up to 2 million Cambodians are estimated to have perished under the Khmer Rouge's 1975 to 1979 Democratic Kampuchea regime. Advocates of the 56-million-dollar joint Cambodian-UN tribunal warned that the trials of a handful of mainly aging and ailing former leaders of the ultra-Maoist movement must be held soon or they risk never taking place at all.