ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of the book. The book examines the alleged rise of a more 'victim-orientated justice' within international criminal law (ICL), through an examination of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia’s (ECCC's) civil party participation system. It argues that there is a need within ICL scholarship and practice to greater acknowledge the role of actors and contexts in shaping responses to victimisation. The book provides an empirical contribution to the literature surrounding the 'gap' between the 'imagined victim' and the 'actual victims' of international crimes. It explores how in Cambodia, as in other contexts, terms such as victim and victimisation are contested and open to manipulation by heterogeneous actors pursuing a range of other political or legal goals. The political history of both Cambodia, in general, and its responses to atrocity, in particular, show that not all experiences of victimhood have been equally acknowledged.
