Law and judiciary

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday lashed out at critics who claimed that the recent arrests of four opposition officials for their alleged roles in a violent protest were politically motivated, saying they had committed criminal acts and must be tried according to law. The ...

About 5.1 tons of counterfeit medicines were burned down on Friday at a dumpsite on the outskirts of capital Phnom Penh by Cambodian economic police. ...

Police arrested five people in drug raid in Tuol Kork district, and seized nearly 3 kg of drug and about US$100,000. ...

The murder case of tycoon Oeung Meng Cheu last week has led to a careful watch in many groups of Facebook and the general public in Cambodia. What has left after the incident is a worrisome feeling of a personal safety among small- and medium-side ...

National Election Committee (NEC) Secretary-General Tep Nytha said Wednesday that imprisoned CNRP official Meach Sovannara could be named as one of the opposition’s 55 lawmakers even though he stands charged with insurrection. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Friday that the CNRP would ask Yont Tharo, ...

An activist monk set to face trial today on widely disputed charges of incitement alongside a so-called “terrorist” leader vowed yesterday to use the hearing to preach to the judiciary. In a statement released Sunday, 16 NGOs called for authorities to drop the charges against ...

Rady Mom, Cambodian-American state representative in Massachusetts, U.S.A, was not allowed yesterday to meet with 17 activists who are currently being detained at Prey Sar prison. Rady Mom and his colleagues as well as Members of Parliament and Senators of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party went ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is trying to ease concerns over the social and economic costs of the country’s plan with Australia to receive refugees. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has called for the deal to be halted until Cambodia improves its refugee support system. Hun Sen ...

A yearlong investigation by immigration police culminated in the arrest on Saturday of 17 Bangladeshi men hiding in Phnom Penh and Poipet City to avoid charges of human trafficking in their home country, police said Sunday. Three of the fugitives, arrested   at a guesthouse in Phnom ...

A prominent Phnom Penh businessman died after being shot six times by an unidentified gunman outside a fruit shop in Chamkar Mon district on Saturday, according to military police, who believe the murder was an assassination. Ung Meng Chue, 53, a construction tycoon who held the ...

Hundreds of people gathered in Phnom Penh yesterday to mark the International Day to End Impunity, calling on the government to tackle the issue by reforming its court system. Speaking at the event at the capital’s Cambodiana Hotel, Preap Kol, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, ...

A group of civil society organization has condemned recent arrest of two citizens who were involved in a land dispute with the Khun Sear Import Export company, and called on the government to release them and ensure the safety of their family. In a joint statement ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Friday that the CNRP would attempt to secure the release of detained CNRP official Meach Sovan­nara by promoting him to become a lawmaker so that he can enjoy parliamentary immunity. Mr. Sovannara, the head of the CNRP’s information department, was arrested ...

A 24-year-old student was sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday for posting 14 nude photos of his girlfriend on Facebook in an attempt to extort money from her in exchange for deleting them. Presiding judge Mong Mony Sorphea said ...

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that he and his government have no rights to order the courts to arrest or release any suspects who have committed crimes. “I and the government have no rights to order the judiciary, the court to arrest anyone based ...

European diplomats called on Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday to express their concerns about the recent spate of activists’ arrests, with the minister reportedly saying that he believed a one-year sentence speedily handed down to seven Boeung Kak lake protesters last week was rather “heavy”. ...

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong yesterday defended the independence of Cambodia’s judiciary following concerns raised by a UN official about the whirlwind imprisonment of 11 activists arrested for protesting last week. Kuong accused Surya Subedi, the UN’s special rapporteur for human rights, of making a habit ...

Despite opposition party hopes to the contrary, the Ministry of Justice yesterday rejected the idea that it could intervene in the court system to release Meach Sovannara, a Cambodia National Rescue Party official jailed last week. According to ministry spokesman Kem Santepheap, a letter from CNRP ...

King Norodom Sihamoni officially appointed new members to the judicial body that oversees the Kingdom’s judges and prosecutors last week, following the passing of a controversial law earlier this year outlining its organisation and functioning. According to a Royal Decree that was signed Thursday by the ...

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng received a letter from Sam Rainsy who called for the release of Meach Sovannara, head of CNRP’s information and media department, and will send the letter to the Ministry of Justice, a senior official said Friday. ...

The newly established National Commercial Arbitration Center (NCAC) may have been set up to al­low businesses to settle disputes outside the court system, but it still needs support from judges and court officials to do its work effectively, its president said on Friday. Speaking at ...

Local rights workers say they fear ongoing protests by the Khmer Krom minority in front of the Vietnamese Embassy could be putting demonstrators at risk of a blacklisting. ...

The Appeal Court has set a date to hear the case of 23 garment workers and unionists who were convicted in May in connection with violent protests calling for a doubling of the sector’s minimum wage.​ ...

Following days of high-profile convictions and charges dealt at breakneck speed, based on little evidence and little investigation, a prominent legal expert said yesterday that the law “needs to be updated” to change Cambodia’s widely decried court system. ...