Big News out of the ECCC

Andrew Cayley, the co-international prosecutor, has resigned effective next week:

British national Andrew Cayley told VOA that it was no secret he was planning to resign this year, but said he was leaving now for personal and professional reasons. He did not elaborate and said his resignation will not affect the ongoing prosecutions under his authority.

Cayley’s departure, which is effective September 16, comes at a crucial time in the court’s prosecution of two surviving Khmer Rouge leaders: Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan.

Nuon Chea was Pol Pot’s deputy, while Khieu Samphan was head of state of the regime that is believed responsible for the deaths of two million people between 1975 and 1979.

The trial of the elderly defendants – known as Case 002 – is so complex that the court divided it into a number of smaller trials. The first of those mini-trials concluded in July. Since then the prosecution, the defense and the lawyers for the civil parties have been preparing their closing submissions.

All are scheduled to file their submissions later this month, with the court due to hear arguments in October. A judgment is expected next year.

Cayley said that process, as far as the prosecution was concerned, remained on track.

“What I’ve done in the past month – which I undertook to the UN to do – is I’ve put in place measures basically that the case will continue to a proper conclusion,” said Cayley. “Our written submissions are almost complete and will be ready to be filed on the 26th of September. So yes, it’s not an ideal situation, but certainly the office is well prepared for my departure. And the office is not just about me – it’s about a whole team of people working together, and me departing is not going to affect the quality of the work.”

As regular readers know, I have the utmost respect for the job Andrew has done under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. It’s remarkable, and a testament to his dedication, that he has survived at the ECCC for nearly four years. The tribunal has always had serious problems, but I think it’s safe to say that those problems would have been far worse absent Andrew’s efforts.

I look forward to seeing what Andrew, an accomplished barrister, does next. I hope the ECCC’s loss will prove to be another international organization’s gain.