Law and judiciary

The National Assembly on Thursday approved amendments to Cambodia’s mining laws by revising 11 articles, in a move that would give officials the power to hand out fines or punishments instead of sending all disputes to court. In a full plenary session last week, 112 ...

Government officials have threatened that those who boycott the coming election but ink their fingers to indicate they had voted will face punishment according to the law. But analysts and opposition figures say that there is no applicable law relating to such an issue. ...

The National Assembly has produced its first code of ethics to ensure that all lawmakers work independently and humbly and uphold the country’s interest. Leng Peng Long, spokesman for the National Assembly, said yesterday said that the code of ethics approved earlier this month requires ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court heard a case on Thursday against a member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF), designated a terrorist group in the Kingdom, for holding a press conference last year in which he called for the government to release political prisoners, with ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng on Thursday ordered authorities to investigate a potential connection between a recent gun-smuggling case in Thailand and a similar case last year, seemingly contradicting the Defence Ministry’s earlier claim that the weapons didn’t stem from Cambodia. ...

Political fugitive Sam Serey, long wanted by the Cambodian government for allegedly operating a “terrorist” group, was arrested in Bangkok on Wednesday for an immigration violation, with the Cambodian government submitting a formal request for his extradition on Thursday. Serey, founder of the dissident group ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court has extended the deadline for an injunction issued against the Phnom Penh Post that instructed it to pay $260,000 in compensation to its former CEO Chris Dawe, who sued the newspaper over wrongful dismissal. ...

Boeung Kak community land activist Tep Vanny is making another bid for release in a case that sent her to prison over a 2013 protest outside the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Vanny’s sister, Huot Chansovann, filed a petition on Monday to Hun Sen’s ...

Twenty years ago, on April 15, 1998, Pol Pot, the leader of Cambodia’s genocidal government during the late 1970s, died in his sleep at the age of 73. Born Saloth Sar, Pol Pot was never held accountable for the crimes committed during the three years, eight ...

The Ministry of Interior released a 14-page dossier of purported evidence against self-exiled political dissident Sam Serey on Wednesday, and government mouthpiece Fresh News leaked audio recordings of alleged associates seeking to buttress Prime Minister Hun Sen’s accusation that Serey was plotting a Khmer New ...

The Appeal Court has rejected a plea from two Boeung Kak activists to restart an investigation into a nighttime attack on lake residents, journalists and others in 2013 at Phnom Penh’s Wat Phnom by thugs and plainclothes police officials. ...

The director of Kampong Speu’s protected Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary and his predecessor have been charged with illegally clearing forest in a case dating back to 2013, and have been summoned to court for questioning. ...

Former Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha is to remain in jail while awaiting his trial after the Appeal Court on Tuesday (Mar 27) upheld the decision of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to extend his pre-trial detention by an additional six months. ...

Former opposition leader Sam Rainsy has been summoned from exile to answer a charge of “treason” over an alleged agreement he made with a pro-Montagnard activist. Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Sieng Sok issued a letter on Thursday to summon Rainsy as a “suspect” ...

Police in Kampong Cham province on Monday found a haul of 41 rosewood logs in a Lexus heading towards the Vietnamese border, while police in Stung Treng province discovered some 30 cubic metres of illegal timber on Sunday. No suspects were arrested in either case. ...

Two opposition lawmakers beaten up outside the National Assembly in 2015 will have their appeal heard this Friday – nearly two years after the three Bodyguard Unit members responsible for the attack were given mostly suspended sentences by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. ...

The government has accepted a request from a senior officer of the US State Department to hold another discussion on the draft minimum wage law before it is approved. After meeting with Sarah Morgan, an official with the US Office of International Labour Affairs, Labour Minister ...

UN special Rapporteur Rhona Smith’s request to meet with jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha in a Tbong Khmum prison was rejected by an investigating judge who cited “important tasks” that needed to be completed before outsiders were allowed such access. ...

Imprisoned former Ambassador Suth Dina appeared in the Supreme Court yesterday to challenge the procedures of the Appeal Court, where he attempted to get his five-year sentence for “abuse of power” and “unlawful exploitation” overturned in August. ...

The Interior Ministry said it will investigate documents and a video from 2013 that resurfaced yesterday showing former opposition leader Sam Rainsy committing to upholding the rights of ethnic minorities in four northeastern Cambodian provinces, with a Justice Ministry spokesman saying it qualified as “treason”. ...

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces chief of joint staff Hun Manet has said he disagrees that Preah Sihanouk province, where Chinese investment in hotels and casinos has skyrocketed, will become a second Macau. Lieutenant General Manet made the comment on Monday during a ground-breaking ceremony for the ...

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. ...

The Commerce Ministry announced a standardised certification process for halal food in Cambodia yesterday, a move that was praised by Muslim religious leaders and food producers. ...

Jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha may not face trial until after the July elections, after a Phnom Penh Municipal Court decision on Monday to extend his pre-trial detention up to another six months. Meng Sopheary, Sokha’s lawyer, confirmed that Investigating Judge Ky Rithy extended the ...