This report was drafted in the framework of an FIDH programme promoting the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This programme received particular support from the European Union (European Initiative for Democracy and Human rights EIDHR).
The first action conducted in Cambodia, in the context of this programme, in March 2005, was a roundtable over two days, on the topic of "Articulation between the International Criminal Court and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal: The Place of Victims" (FIDH report n°420, June 2005). This roundtable was organised jointly with the two FIDH member organisations, the Cambodian Association for Human Rights and Development (ADHOC) and the Cambodian League for the defence of Human Rights (LICHADO).
Following the round table, the FIDH decided to implement a second programme of action in Cambodia, relating to implementation of the Rome Statute of the ICC Statute in Cambodian law. Two Chargés de mission, Mr Rada Sann and Mr. Hisham Mousar, were chosen to conduct a study on the issue, in order to identify any changes needed to Cambodian law to bring it fully into line with the obligations under the Statute. In fact, Cambodia is the first (and one of the rare) States in the region to have ratified the Statute of the ICC. However, it has not yet adopted the legislative provisions needed to integrate the Statute’s obligations into domestic law.
This report is based on the draft of Criminal Code and draft Code of Criminal Procedure currently under examination by the Royal Government of Cambodia and does not in any way affect the general structure of the draft Codes, which are already an essential step towards bringing Cambodian criminal law into conformity with the international instruments for the protection of human rights ratified in Cambodia. The report suggests essentially technical modifications to the current drafts of the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure in such a way that their incorporation by the Cambodian authorities responsible for finalising these texts should not slow down their adoption.