Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was a Cambodian court with international participation that prosecuted senior Khmer Rouge leaders and others most responsible for crimes committed during Democratic Kampuchea.

Hybrid tribunal: A court combining domestic and international personnel, law, or institutional authority. Cambodian and international judges, prosecutors, and staff shared authority in this court.
Duch: The alias of Kaing Guek Eav, head of the Khmer Rouge security prison S-21. His conviction was the court’s first final judgment against a senior regime figure.
Khmer Rouge: A Cambodian communist movement that ruled Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979. The regime’s crimes were the court’s central subject of investigation and trial.
International criminal law: The body of law governing individual criminal responsibility for serious international crimes. The court applied international crimes within a domestic judicial institution.
Cambodian criminal procedure: The rules and practices governing criminal investigations and trials in Cambodia. Domestic procedural law formed the court’s foundation, alongside international standards.
Case 002: The court’s proceedings against Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, divided into trial segments. The case addressed senior leaders and crimes across Democratic Kampuchea.
Cambodian genocide: The mass deaths and persecution under Khmer Rouge rule, including genocide against particular groups. The atrocities created the demand for judicial accountability decades later.
Genocide conviction of Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan: The court’s 2018 finding that Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan were guilty of genocide against Vietnamese and Cham victims. It marked the court’s most prominent genocide findings.
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia jurisdiction: The court’s authority to prosecute defined crimes and categories of accused persons. Its narrow temporal and personal limits determined which Khmer Rouge cases could proceed.
Nuon Chea: A senior Khmer Rouge leader and the party’s chief ideologue, convicted by the court. He was convicted in Case 002 and died while his appeal was pending.

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