Jacques Vergès receives second warning from Khmer Rouge Tribunal for misconduct

Kambol (Phnom Penh, Cambodia). 03/04/2009: Lawyer Jacques Vergès after the hearing of Khieu Samphan at the Pre-Trial Chamber
©John Vink/ Magnum

Ka-set
http://cambodia.ka-set.info

By Stephanie Gée
21-05-2009

One more! The Pre-Trial Chamber of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal issued a second warning to Jacques Vergès, international co-lawyer for Khieu Samphan, the former head of State of Democratic Kampuchea, as it was made public on Thursday May 21st. The Chamber had already admonished the media savvy and boisterous French lawyer in a first warning dated from April 23rd. This time, the Chamber provided arguments for its decision in a document of 12 pages – referring in particular to jurisprudence drawn from cases tried by international courts – while the previous warning had only four pages...

In the document, the Pre-Trial Chamber listed the facts that motivated the sanction, in light of internal rule 38 regarding misconduct of a lawyer. The Chamber thus recalled that “despite the fact that the hearing of 27 February 2009 was postponed in order to allow him to participate, Mr. Vergès did not present any oral submission in relation to the Appeals or meaningfully contribute to the debates before the Pre-Trial Chamber during the hearing continued on 3 April 2009.”

It added that “[T]he participation of Mr. Vergès in the hearing was limited to a statement which was clearly outside the scope of the Appeals as well as the parameters of the right to reply. The interventions of Mr. Vergès were aimed at challenging the integrity and legitimacy of the Court in general and the Pre-Trial Chamber's judges in particular.” The Chamber pursued: “[T]he unsubstantiated allegations made by Mr. Vergès and the language he employed were abusive and insulting towards the Pre-Trial Chamber's judges. These allegations, made outside the context of the Appeals […], amount to an offensive and obstructive conduct”.

The Pre-Trial Chamber warned the lawyer that should he persist in such a conduct, it would impose sanctions pursuant to internal rule 38. Disciplinary sanctions may include the exclusion of the defender from the list of lawyers approved to appear before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), according to the rule.

Mr. Vergès' colleague, Cambodian lawyer Sa Sovan, reacted Thursday by explaining that “as a professional lawyer, receiving a warning was almost a habit” and said he had no concern for the future, as “judges do not expel lawyers.”