ECCC, Case 001, Issue 21

Case 001’s substantive hearing came to a close on Wednesday, about 7 months after the trial’s commencement. Its conclusion was marked by a distinctly emotive presentation and of course questioning by International Defense Counsel François Roux. Particularly resonant were observations by this week’s 3 distinguished expert witnesses on the overarching significance of this justice process, coming as they did in the final stages of the ECCC’s first trial. 

Following the close of the substantive hearing, the Chamber allowed the Parties time to put additional documents before the Chamber. Considerable objections were raised by the Prosecution and Defense in relation to each other’s submissions, and attempts outside the Courtroom to reach mutual agreement proved futile. Notably, the Civil Parties sought to introduce new evidence. Resource constraints faced by Civil Party lawyers were cited as a reason for their late submission of newly-discovered evidence, bringing to the fore the need for improvements to the provision and management of funding and resources to ensure effective and adequate Civil Party representation in future cases.