A Review of the Negotiations Leading to the Establishment of the Personal Jurisdiction of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia
The October 2004 Cambodian Law establishing the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) does not contain any provisions regarding interpretation. However, the Agreement Between the UN and Cambodia, an international treaty that preceded and informed the final version of the ECCC Law, provides in Article 2 that the Agreement is subject to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
The Vienna Convention is widely considered a codification of customary international law on the subject of treaty interpretation. Article 31 of the Convention states that treaties should generally be interpreted ―in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose…