Judges face misconduct accusation

Wednesday 26th Oct, 2011
By Letitia Atkinson
etitia@thesun.co.nz

The co-investigating judges handling the pre-trial case of the men accused of ordering the torture and murder of a Whakatane man in 1978 are accused of misconduct.

Kerry Hamill was killed after being seized off the coast of Cambodia; the orders to torture and murder him were given under the Khmer Rouge regime.

See the trailer for the movie made about Rob Hamill’s quest for justice below.

Kerry’s younger brother, Rob Hamill, appealed to be a civil party representative in the third cases against the defendants, but had his appeal rejected by the Office of Co-Investigating Judges.

A new ruling has revealed evidence of possible judicial misconduct as well as serious procedural irregularities on the part of investigating judges at the Khmer Rouge tribunal.
The ruling was made by the tribunal’s Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC), which rules on disputes for cases that have not yet gone to trial.

The two international judges on the PTC concluded that the Office of the Co-Investigating Judges (OCIJ) had denied victims the “fundamental right to legal representation”.
Rob’s lawyer Sam Sokong says revelations of judicial misconduct by the Co-Investigating Judges (CIJs) in the decision to reject Rob’s civil claims shows his case was the litmus test for the future of civil party participation in the case.

Rob was recognised as a civil party in the tribunal’s first two cases, but was rejected for the third on the grounds that he “did not demonstrate that he suffered the alleged psychological injury as a direct consequence of the death of his brother”.

Sam says on October 24, the PTC issued its considerations of Rob’s appeal, where there was a clear divide along national and international line.

“As the PTC could not reach an affirmative super majority vote on a decision either way, the rejection of Rob’s application for civil party status stands.
“However, the opinions of the international judges disclose a number of facts which clearly give rise to the appearance of, or actual, misconduct by the CIJs.”