Cambodia Tribunal

The "Cambodia Tribunal" commonly refers to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a hybrid tribunal created by agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia. The court was established to try senior leaders of Democratic Kampuchea and those most responsible for atrocities committed during Khmer Rouge rule from 17 April 1975 to 6 January 1979, a period in which an estimated 1.7–2 million Cambodians died from execution, forced labor, starvation, and disease.

Negotiations between the UN and Phnom Penh began in 1997 and culminated in a framework agreement signed in 2003. Cambodia's National Assembly passed implementing legislation, and the chambers became operational in 2006. The ECCC sits inside the Cambodian court system but applies a mix of Cambodian law and international criminal law, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Benches combine Cambodian and international judges, with decisions requiring a "supermajority" that includes at least one international vote.

Key cases include:

• Case 001: Kaing Guek Eav (Duch), commandant of the S-21 (Tuol Sleng) detention center, convicted in 2010 and sentenced on appeal in 2012 to life imprisonment.
• Case 002: Nuon Chea ("Brother Number Two") and Khieu Samphan, former head of state. Both were convicted of crimes against humanity in 2014 and, in a 2018 judgment, of genocide against the Cham Muslim and ethnic Vietnamese minorities.

The tribunal has been criticized for its slow pace, high cost (funded largely by donor states including Japan), political interference by the Cambodian government, and limited number of completed cases. Its residual functions continue after the substantive trial work concluded, focusing on legacy, archives, and reparations to civil parties — a notable feature distinguishing the ECCC from the ICTY and ICTR.