Pursuing Retributive and Reparative Justice within Cambodia

Abstract

This chapter seeks to provide an overview of the transitional justice mechanisms through which successive Cambodian governments have sought to address the crimes of the Khmer Rouge, namely, the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal, and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (‘ECCC’). As will be seen, these mechanisms have predominantly pursued retributive justice as a means of addressing the past, through their focus on the criminal prosecution of those deemed most responsible for the Khmer Rouge regime’s crimes. However, it appears that the ECCC has also sought to incorporate more reparative forms of justice through its incorporation of victim participation, reparations and other non-judicial measures. This chapter will examine the extent to which the mechanisms have successfully pursued these justice goals. It will begin by considering the work of the People’s Revolutionary Tribunal in part one, and then turn to the ECCC in part two. Although in the ECCC’s case it is perhaps too early to draw definitive conclusions, the chapter will conclude with some tentative observations on the extent to which the two mechanisms have successfully aided Cambodia’s transition from its violent past.

Keywords: Cambodia, Transitional Justice, Retributive Justice, Reparative Justice