Ministry of Justice

A fifth iter-ministerial meeting was held on Wednesday to continue reviewing and discussing the first draft of the Access to Information Law, even as civil society called on the ministries to accelerate its discussions.​ Following the meeting, which was led by the Ministry of Information, ...

Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana on Monday temporarily suspended Kampong Thom provincial deputy prosecutor Chea Sovanthet after he was alleged to have been involved in the clearing 10ha of mangrove forest with 17 tractors. Vong Vathana’s missive to the provincial prosecutor on Monday said ...

Government officials on Monday hit back at UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) criticisms expressed ahead of the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) scheduled for next month.​ ... ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen will allow the ministries of Interior and Justice, and relevant institutions to convene with the aim of solving the problem of prison overcrowding. Interior Minister Sar Kheng requested the meeting due to the rapid increase in convicted felons, according to Chin ...

The number of people being held in Cambodian prisons has reached epidemic proportions, leading to overcrowding and corruption, and causing families to suffer unnecessarily, claims a report by local NGO Licadho. However, Ministry of Justice spokesman Chin Malin rejected the findings, saying the rise in ...

Ministry of Justice and the European Union (EU) experts have finalised the draft policy to provide legal aid to marginalised groups in rural areas in the Kingdom. The ministry and the EU completed the draft during their Technical Support for Legal Aid Policy Development workshop ...

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) has released an observational report on the rights of woman defendant’s at the Appeal Court, claiming that many weren’t granted due process. Having monitors attend 453 trials from December 2016 to June this year, CCHR found that there ...

With the first drop of crude oil from the Apsara oilfield expected by next year, officials gathered on Thursday to discuss the much-awaited law on petroleum. Representatives of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Justice were ...

UN special Rapporteur Rhona Smith officially commenced her latest visit to the Kingdom yesterday, meeting with the Ministry of Justice to raise concerns over a slew of legislative and constitutional amendments undertaken as part of the government’s recent crackdown on political dissent. ... ...

A set of controversial laws and constitutional amendments was quietly signed by Senate President Say Chhum in place of the King last week, going into effect immediately despite the Justice Ministry previously claiming there would be a promulgation period. ... ...

Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) boss Om Yentieng has said the Kingdom’s whistleblower and witness protection draft law was nearly complete, while at the same time lashing out at Transparency International Cambodia for not assisting in the process, something the group flatly denied. ... ...

Jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha’s lawyers yesterday boycotted the questioning of their client on “treason” charges at Trapaing Phlong Prison to protest the judge’s decision not to question him at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.​ ... ...

Jailed former opposition leader Kem Sokha was questioned by a judge in prison yesterday, according to his lawyers, who classified the questioning as “aggressive” and “inappropriate”. ... ...

Among the 50 prisoners who were pardoned or received sentence reductions for the Water Festival this year, several were convicted of serious crimes, such as rape, murder and human trafficking, according to a review of the roster included in the most recent Royal Book. ... ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s lawyer yesterday filed a lawsuit against former Deputy Prime Minister Lu Lay Sreng for defamation over comments made during a private phone conversation leaked to social media. ... ...

A senoir Justice Ministry official said a pilot project to increase bail approvals and community service sentencing for small-time offenders would be impossible, weeks after the project was announced during the visit of a United Nations human rights official. ... ...

Police yesterday arrested Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha over allegations of treason, with Prime Minister Hun Sen accusing the opposition president of conspiring with the United States to oust his regime. In a startling escalation in an already deteriorating political climate, the premier ...

Out of 600 prisoners at Kampong Thom prison 18 may have their sentences reduced by six to 12 months for the upcoming Water Festival in November. ... ...

Authorities from four provinces, along with the Ministry of Justice, set more than 100 kilograms of drugs ablaze at the Preah Vihear provincial hall on Monday. ... ...

The Justice Minister has urged court officials to work independently, responsibly and ethically to strengthen the judicial system and improve public trust of the judiciary. ... ...

Child sex tourism is continuing to damage the lives of young Cambodians, while the internet is enabling perpetrators to carry out abuse, the Justice Minister has warned.​ ... ...

The Justice Ministry is investigating accusations that surrogacy services are being offered in the Kingdom as rumors spread online. Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said yesterday at a three-day workshop launching the “Explanatory Note of Domestic Adoption,” he was unsure if the rumors pertained to ...

Rhona Smith, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, who is on a three-day trip to the Kingdom, yesterday voiced her concern about overcrowding in prisons caused by an increase in temporary detentions before trials. Ms. Smith, on her third visit to Cambodia, raised ...

Visiting U.N. envoy Rhona Smith on Tuesday offered to help Cambodia draft its first laws on surrogacy, a ministry spokesman said. The special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, who arrived on Monday for a 10-day visit, met with Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana to discuss ...