[JURIST] Robert Petit [Globalpolicy.org profile], the Canadian international co-prosecutor for the Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal [official task force website; timeline] cautioned reporters Friday at a Phnom Penh news conference that the court's investigation process, set to begin Monday, could take months to return its indictments due the complexity of the cases and and the novel structure of the court. The investigation will collect new evidence to bring against the surviving members of the Khmer Rouge [JURIST news archive] regime, which ruled over Cambodia from 1975-1978. The UN has called for trials to begin as soon as possible [JURIST report], as the former Khmer Rouge military chief was hospitalized [JURIST report] last week, following the hospitalization of the former foreign minister [JURIST report] earlier in the year, as well as the death of former Khmer Rouge health minister Thiounn Thioeunn [DC-CAM profile] in June.

Twenty-seven judges and prosecutors for the UN-assisted court were sworn in [JURIST report] on Monday. AFP has more.