Trial Chamber Restricts Substantive Participation of Civil Parties

The court in the trial of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Duch) issued two procedural rulings that severely restricted the substantive roles of the civil parties. First, it pronounced that civil parties would not be permitted to make submissions to the court on the issue of sentencing. Only submissions relating to guilt or civil party reparations would be accepted. Second, it ruled that civil parties would not be permitted to question many of the remaining witnesses because those testimonies will address exclusively the character of the accused. However, before delving into these important procedural issues, the court concluded yesterday’s process of hearing challenges to civil party applications…

Read more: ctm_blog_8-27-09