Law and judiciary

The last of three draft laws written with the aim of cleaning up the courts establishes four new judicial chambers, but legal and political experts worry that it does little to loosen the grip of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Justice Ministry over the courts. The draft ...

A CPP official said that Sam Rainsy’s recent comments over amnesty law were inaccurate. Yeap said that it was completely wrong because Prime Minister Hun Sen didn’t propose this law [amnesty law] during the summit on September 16 at the National Assembly. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has finished an investigation into the shooting deaths of five protesting garment factory workers, and the wounding of more than 40 others, during a military police operation against stone-throwing strikers on January 3, Judge Phou Povsun said Sunday. “We had finished ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday heard the case of a woman charged with defaming mining magnate and RCAF Lieutenant General Nim Meng in relation to a land dispute in Preah Sihanouk province. Presiding Judge Kim Dany said that Sok Neang Gek was being charged ...

Amid a continually rising rate of industrial accidents and deaths, the Ministry of Labour introduced a campaign focused on identifying workplace hazards before tragedy strikes. Since the ministry began keeping track of 960 Cambodian factories in 2009, workplace accidents have risen by nearly 375 per cent, ...

A 44-year-old woman was run over and killed by a harvesting machine on Sunday while working on a sugarcane plantation in Kompong Speu province owned by CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat, marking at least the second death on the plantation since December. Y Mom, originally from ...

European Union Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht said he has no plans to launch an investigation into Cambodia’s much-criticized sugarcane plantations after a meeting with Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Bottom line: Cambodia’s free trade benefits to Europe are safe for ...

A lack of identification papers is the key obstacle preventing ethnic Vietnamese living in Kompong Chhnang province from enjoying the same rights as Khmer citizens, according to a survey released Tuesday. In the new report, the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) found that ethnic Vietnamese are often ...

A lawyer hired by the opposition CNRP said Tuesday that he would file a complaint next month with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity allegedly perpetrated by state security forces. “We plan to file a Communication [complaint] before the International Criminal Court next ...

Thousands of workers at the Wing Star Shoes factory demonstrated Tuesday for the second day in a row outside the factory in Kom­pong Speu province after a meeting between union and company officials failed to reach an agreement that would end an ongoing strike, worker ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) released a statement Tuesday in which Hor Sothoun, the eldest son of Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong, defended himself against complaints of nepotism, abuse of power and mishandling of overtime bonuses in his position as permanent secretary-general in his father’s ministry. The ...

Police raided four shops in Phnom Penh’s City Mall yesterday for allegedly selling pirated movies, a move that came a week after mall DVD vendors shut up shop to avoid a planned raid, the details of which were leaked beforehand. Officers conducted yesterday’s raid accompanied ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday heard the case of a Banteay Meanchey court clerk accused of corruption and bribe-taking by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). In February last year, the ACU arrested 28-year-old Suong Sok Heng, a clerk for provincial prosecutor Phan Vanroath, after they ...

Three people, including a former court clerk, stood trial yesterday, accused of unlawfully using court positions to conduct threats and bribery in Banteay Manchey province last year. Phnom Penh Municipal Court investigating judge Sous Sam Ath said former clerk at Banteay Meanchey provincial court Suong Sok ...

The long-awaited draft law on the Supreme Council of Magistracy continues the practice of secret votes and gives Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana key powers, according to excerpts from the document, but it would reduce the position of King Norodom Sihamoni if passed in its ...

When he assumed leadership of Phnom Penh municipality in May 2013, Pa Socheatvong vowed to be a governor who would get things done. His predecessor, Kep Chuktema, oversaw the filling in of Boeng Kak lake and the mass eviction of its residents. A similar scenario unfolded ...

Dozens of ethnic minority Kreung villagers protested outside the Ratanakkiri Provincial Court on Monday, demanding the release of a fellow Kreung man presently in pretrial detention for setting fire to a pile of wood on land the community sold in 2007 but claims it was ...

About 7,000 workers protested in front of the Wing Star Shoes Co. Ltd. factory in Kompong Speu province on Monday, demanding that the company raise their bonuses by $5 and properly enforce a number of labor laws, a union official said. The strike comes ten months ...

Members of the government, military and civil society met on Monday to form a working group to undertake security reform and reporting. The working group will have 26 members from a wide spectrum of government and nongovernment agencies to produce policy recommendations to Cambodia’s leaders. The formation ...

A representative for villagers living in Ratanakkiri’s O’Chum district who say that buyers from a local company failed to uphold a 2007 land deal has been charged and temporarily detained by local authorities for allegedly destroying private property. Haing Noeur, 50, was detained on Saturday after ...

Two union organizers have filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court claiming that the senior leaders of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (CCAWDU) have embezzled money that was meant to be paid to workers in compensation following a dispute with ...

The European Union has called on Cambodia to release 21 jailed activists and protesters and told the government during high level talks held here this week that a failure to reform the judiciary and electoral process could have severe consequences for the ruling party by ...

Alleged victims in seven separate land disputes in Kampong Cham province yesterday agreed to file a petition to the provincial governor, following a meeting with rights group Adhoc. ...

Twelve Cambodians were shot dead by Thai security forces on March 5 after illegally crossing the border from Choam Ksan district in Preah Vihear province to log timber, Cambodian officials said yesterday. Another three illegal loggers were killed on Wednesday and two others are still missing, ...