[JURIST] Cambodia's decision to transfer an investigating judge away from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) [official website; JURIST news archive] could lead to undue delays in bringing top members of the Khmer Rouge [Wikipedia backgrounder] to trial, UN officials said Wednesday as they urged the Cambodian government to rethink the decision. Judge You Bun Leng was moved from the tribunal [AP report] earlier this month to become head of Cambodia's Appeals Court. A UN spokesman said that the UN is awaiting a response from Cambodia after sending an official note on the matter [UN News report] to the Cambodian permanent representative in New York last week.

The ECCC was established by a 2001 law [text as amended 2005, PDF] to investigate and try those responsible for the Cambodian genocide that occurred between 1975-1979. The genocide resulted in the deaths of approximately one-third of the Cambodian population. To date, no top Khmer Rouge officials have faced trial. Earlier this month, the ECCC brought its first charges against Kaing Khek Iev [TrialWatch profile; JURIST report]. AP has more.