Extraordinarily troubled chambers

That's the title of the latest feature on the court from the Phnom Penh Post. If you have a subscription you can see the whole article here- but here are a few highlights:

...the ECCC's precarious perch between "extraordinary" and "in the courts of Cambodia" has already been destabilized by political interference from the government, observers have told the Post. "It is a clear attempt by Hun Sen to maintain control over what is supposed to be an independent judicial process," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW). "Because of its deeply flawed structure and the role of government-controlled judges and prosecutors, [the ECCC] is being deeply politicized even before the first indictment is filed."...

This has been the fear of every critic, but Mr. Adams seems to want to condemn the court before it has even started. A 'clear attempt by Hen Sen to maintain control' is a pretty bold statement to make.

...."This is not an international court, it is a Cambodian court," said Ly Tayseng, secretary-general of the Cambodian Bar Association (CBA). "They cannot create another court which is fully independent from the current court system - it has to be part of the Cambodian system so as not to violate Cambodian sovereignty."....

... "This is an international tribunal based on international law," said Basil Fernando, director of the Asian Foundation for Human Rights. "It is an international court in Cambodian territory. The UN cannot agree to anything less than international standards - by its very nature it cannot."....

Here we have the problem between the Cambodian Bar and the ECCC in a nutshell. The Bar clearly has not read the agreement, or any of the statements from the government. Mr. Fernando has it correct. Why are the international officials here at all if they are not going to ensure international standards?

....ECCC officials are finding the conflicting positions difficult to reconcile, and say there is no example of it occurring in other hybrid courts elsewhere. "I have no precedent to ascertain what to do," said Robert Petit, co-prosecutor. "We have not had problems like this before - even in hybrid courts. This is completely different.".... "[These issues are] not unresolvable," Petit said. "If there is a will there is a way. If we can really delineate the basis for the arguments we can adapt."...

A little disturbing that the ECCC's own officials are not sure how to proceed- but at least they all seem to be putting on a confident front.