UN moves ahead with Cambodian trials court for Khmer Rouge leaders

United Nations efforts helping Cambodia to set up special mixed courts to try ageing former leaders of the Khmer Rouge accused of killing hundreds of thousands of civilians during the 1970s are gaining momentum as Secretary-General Kofi Annan considers nominees for the tribunals' international components.

A short list of candidates will be interviewed in early December for the posts of International Judges, International Co-Prosecutor, International Co-Investigating Judge and International Judges of the Pre-Trial Chamber, spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the daily noon briefing in New York.

The UN and Cambodia signed the landmark agreement to set up a trial court and a Supreme Court within the Cambodian legal system to "prosecute those most responsible for crimes and serious violations of Cambodian and international law between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979."

The courts will comprise a mix of international and Cambodian judges. According to the agreement – which stresses the impartiality and independence of the prospective jurists – decisions in the two chambers would be taken by majorities of four judges and five judges, respectively.