Competing Perceptions of Hybrid Justice: International v. National in the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia

TY - JOUR

T1 - Competing Perceptions of Hybrid Justice: International v. National in the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia

AU - Kjeldgaard-Pedersen, Astrid

AU - Christensen, Mikkel Jarle

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Mixing insights from critical sociology and legal scholarship, this article analyses the diverging professional interests at play in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (eccc) and examines how they affect the Chambers' application of the law. The article shows that judicial interpretation in the eccc is influenced by two non-legal factors. One is the overall shared interest of the competing groups of professionals occupying the Chambers that the Khmer Rouge leaders are tried before an internationalised rather than purely a domestic court. The other is the profound power battle between the international and the national constituents of the eccc. In a broader context, the findings of the article point to a fundamental divide between an international market of criminal lawyers promoting a very specific idea of international criminal justice and the local context this market purports to cater to.

AB - Mixing insights from critical sociology and legal scholarship, this article analyses the diverging professional interests at play in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (eccc) and examines how they affect the Chambers' application of the law. The article shows that judicial interpretation in the eccc is influenced by two non-legal factors. One is the overall shared interest of the competing groups of professionals occupying the Chambers that the Khmer Rouge leaders are tried before an internationalised rather than purely a domestic court. The other is the profound power battle between the international and the national constituents of the eccc. In a broader context, the findings of the article point to a fundamental divide between an international market of criminal lawyers promoting a very specific idea of international criminal justice and the local context this market purports to cater to.

U2 - 10.1163/15718123-01801007

DO - 10.1163/15718123-01801007

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1567-536X

VL - 18

SP - 127

EP - 153

JO - International Criminal Law Review

JF - International Criminal Law Review

IS - 1

ER -