A/HRC/7/42 page 18 Secretary-General. Thus Cambodia can to a limited extent decide on the appointment of international judges, investigating judges and prosecutors, but the United Nations has no say in the appointment of Cambodian counterparts. 79. In the Pre-Trial and Trial Chambers there are three Cambodian judges and two international judges. In the Supreme Court Chamber, there are four Cambodians and three internationals. The Pre-Trial and Trial Chambers must decide by the affirmative votes of at least four judges and in the Supreme Court Chambers by the affirmative votes of at least five judges. It would therefore be possible for Cambodian judges to block a conviction even if all the international judges supported it. This is curious, since the international judges have, and were always expected to have, greater expertise in the law about war crimes and crimes against humanity, and longer judicial experience than their Cambodian counterparts. B. Issues of independence and administration 80. When, in 1997, the Government requested the United Nations to assist with trials, the Secretary-General appointed an eminent Group of Experts to advise him.13 81. After a careful assessment of the Cambodian judiciary (including admissions from some “high officials”), the Group concluded that endemic corruption and political influence would make it impossible for Cambodian prosecutors, investigators and judges to be free from political pressure and that decisions on “whom to investigate and indict, and to convict and acquit would be based on political considerations rather than the evidence” (para. 134). It rejected a mixed court (with equal numbers of foreign and local judges and prosecutors) and particularly opposed the appointment of a Cambodian as prosecutor or deputy prosecutor (para. 163). 82. Whether this considered advice, which was overruled by political expediency, was justified or not remains to be seen. The United Nations-Cambodia Agreement stipulates that judges and prosecutors shall be of “high moral character, impartiality and integrity … be independent in the performance of their functions and shall not accept or seek instructions from any Government or any other source” (art. 9 (3)). However, the Cambodian judges include two who have presided over much criticized trials of prominent opposition figures, one who twice ruled against Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun (see paragraph 56 above) and who acquitted the Prime Minister’s nephew of manslaughter in 2004 in dubious circumstances, one who admitted having taken money from parties to litigation and one who had never been a judge before.14 When these appointments were criticized, Reach Sambath, ECCC spokesperson, suggested that 13 The Group of Experts includes Sir Ninian Stephen, a distinguished Australian lawyer and a former Governor-General of his country; Justice Rajsommer Lallah, former Chief Justice of Mauritius and a member of the Human Rights Committee; and Prof. Steven Ratner, a leading international lawyer from the United States of America. 14 See LICADHO report, p. 25.