Cambodia's Constitutional Council approved legislation today allowing creation of a court to try leaders of the Khmer Rouge for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people under their rule.
But the long-awaited legislation, under which foreign and local judges will try defendants for atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, still needs the final approval of King Norodom Sihanouk before it enters the statute books.
The United Nations also has to approve its participation in the process.
"We spent more than two hours debating thoroughly the draft law passed by the National Assembly and the Senate," said Mr Bin Chhin, president of the nine-member council. "We have decided that the law is constitutional".
Parliament's upper and lower houses passed the law in July.
Mr Youk Chhang, Cambodia's leading genocide researcher, said today he welcomed the council's decision but that he would wait for the king's signature before celebrating.
It was unclear when the king would sign the law.
A Khmer Rouge trial is a divisive issue in Cambodia, where decades of civil war ended only in 1998 with the defection of the last Khmer Rouge guerrillas. No member of the Communist regime has yet stood trial for atrocities, which included forced labour and executions. Cambodia first asked the United Nations to help set up a Khmer Rouge trial in 1997, but agreement has been difficult with both sides saying they should be in control.