[JURIST] The International Bar Association (IBA) [official website], the leading global organization of legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies, announced [press release] Friday that it has canceled a training program for Cambodian lawyers representing defendants in the genocide trial of Khmer Rouge [JURIST news archive] leaders. The program had faced opposition from the Cambodian Bar Association, which saw the program as infringing on the Cambodian Bar's sovereignty and prohibited Cambodian lawyers from taking part. The IBA alleged that the Cambodian move was "part of a wider scheme of opposition designed to obstruct the operation of the [genocide tribunal]"; IBA head Mark Ellis commented:

The Bar’s actions represent a disturbing development in the functioning of international justice, placing obstacles in the path of bringing those accused of international crimes to trial. The IBA’s programme was intended to improve the quality of legal services and the administration of justice in Cambodia, and help educate and inform the Cambodian public about international justice. It is unacceptable that the Cambodian Bar, which should share these objectives, is seeking to frustrate them in this way.