Maggie Naylor, a recent Durham Law School graduate, arrived in Phnom Penh recently to work with the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), a hybrid national tribunal-international tribunal that was set up to try war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, among other offences, during the country’s period under the Khmer Rouge.
The ECCC has begun pivoting “from the courtroom to the classroom,” in the words of its Acting Director of Administration, H.E. Kranh Tony, moving from active trials to informing the Cambodian public about what its work had achieved. Naylor will have an opportunity as part of that transition to “engage with the Court’s jurisprudence and archives and…its vast contributions to accountability,” Kranh continued. She will then take what she has learned to “engage far and wide through forthcoming outreach activities and other educational initiatives, becoming a multiplier of Cambodia’s unique peace process.”
For her part, Naylor is excited to take up her role, saying that she is involved in “several projects related to the future of the ECCC.” She also praises the court’s collections for facilitating her interest in legal research. Kranh commends her “curious mind” and notes that the court “remains an open door” for others like her who were interested in assisting its mission.
Durham Law School alumni have a unique opportunity to work with the ECCC through a partnership forged by Durham Professor Michael Bohlander, who previously served as a judge on the tribunal. Final year undergraduate students who are interested are encouraged to look at the information available on the internal Durham Sharepoint here and to be in touch with the current acting director of the programme, Christopher Szabla, at christopher.j.szabla@durham.ac.uk.
