Cambodians' Support for the Rule of Law on the Eve of the Khmer Rouge Trials

Cambodia is in the midst of trying some of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge for their actions during the time of the Killing Fields. Beyond the effects on individual victims and perpetrators, many will ask whether this process of historical accountability will have a broader impact on Cambodian society and political culture. One possible consequence of the trials is that the attitudes of ordinary Cambodians toward the rule of law will be affected. One hypothesis is that the trials will restore faith in the rule of law, a faith undermined by the failure of the state to take action against the miscreants for thirty years. Other hypotheses are also tenable. The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes of Cambodians toward the rule of law. Based on a nationally representative survey conducted in 2007 – well before the trials began – our evidence is that Cambodians hold an extremely strong preference for strict adherence to legal universalism. Because support for the rule of law is so strong, the trials are highly unlikely to make it stronger. From the point-of-view of transitional justice processes, we argue that (1) it is crucial to know the state of society prior to the implementation of justice processes so that change can be measured; (2) cultural values such as support for the rule of law are as likely to be causes of transitional justice processes as they are results; and (3) because much too little is known about the societal consequences of transitional justice processes, much more rigorous, quantitative analysis must be conducted