Law and judiciary

A draft United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report released at a workshop on Monday praises efforts to crack down on sexual abuse of children but calls for measures to curb child pornography.​​ ...

A court investigation into illegal timber trafficking has targeted 11 provincial officials—including Mondolkiri’s heads of the military and military police, and potentially a court prosecutor—prompting the case’s transfer to Phnom Penh at the request of the justice minister, officials said on Tuesday. ...

Surveillance cameras set up throughout the capital will be synchronized and monitored nonstop from a central control room as part of a coordinated crimewatch effort between City Hall and the National Police, officials said on Tuesday. ...

A NEW international law firm is preparing to set up shop to provide foreign citizenship or residency services to Cambodia’s wealthy elite by helping to facilitate large overseas investments as well as business expansion plans. ...

Operations against human trafficking networks increased by a whopping 127 percent compared to the same period in 2016, according to a six-month report released yesterday by the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT). ...

The Cambodian embassy in Malaysia has repatriated 14 Cambodian fishermen who fled a Thai boat and are believed to be human trafficking victims, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.​​ ...

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 National Assembly approved a draft law yesterday that will guarantee the state’s purchase of electricity from two large-scale private energy projects, protecting the investments against any loss resulting from political instability. ...

The National Assembly swiftly passed controversial new measures yesterday to effectively ban former opposition leader Sam Rainsy from the political arena or from bolstering the opposition’s firepower ahead of next year’s elections. ...

A petrol tanker truck was found with more than 2,000 pieces of luxury rosewood stashed inside its tank when it was intercepted by authorities in Phnom Penh last week, National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy said yesterday. ...

The Cambodia Royal Gendarmerie and Kratie provincial military police yesterday concluded a crackdown on a known timber smuggling route in Sambour district, confiscating nearly 100 pieces of wood equivalent to about 40 cubic metres. ...

Anti-economic crime police from the Interior Ministry yesterday seized more than four tonnes of illegal medicine in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district.​ ...

NGOs huddled yesterday to make sense of a letter from the Interior Ministry asking them to comply with controversial provisions of the Law on Associations and NGOs (LANGO), with some considering requesting further clarification or an extension of a September deadline for compliance. ...

Opposition lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang said yesterday that Cambodia National Rescue Party banners featuring self-exiled former party President Sam Rainsy will be taken down nationwide after a National Assembly vote on Monday that is expected to ban the use of his image in party materials. ...

Nearly 15,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in Takeo province’s Kirivong district on Wednesday evening, in the second such crackdown this week.​ ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng took aim at civil society on Tuesday night, warning NGOs to comply with the law or face legal action, at the same time the ministry ordered the ad hoc election monitoring group the Situation Room to cease any future monitoring activities. ...

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision to deny jailed political analyst Kim Sok’s request for bail, also rejecting his request to summons Prime Minister Hun Sen, the plaintiff in the two defamation and incitement cases that landed the analyst in detention. ...

An army general in Preah Sihanouk province was arrested by Military Police officials on Tuesday after the provincial court ordered he be taken into custody following allegations of land grabbing. ...

Environmental activist Ven Vorn has been given a second chance to have an illegal logging conviction overturned after the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered his case sent back to the Appeal Court for review. ...

The National Assembly’s permanent committee will today schedule a plenary session of parliament to debate and vote on laws that would ban the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party from associating with its former leader Sam Rainsy, or ever using images of his face, recordings of ...

A series of letters issued by the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday night – one chastising two election monitors, and another offering a blanket warning to NGOs – have again raised the spectre of the Kingdom’s controversial and widely criticised Law on Associations and NGOs ...

Over 12,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in 47 different locations by authorities in Takeo province on Monday after villagers stumbled upon the illegal crop in the mountains and along a lake. ...

The Ministry of Interior has issued a warning to election watchdogs Comfrel and Nicfec, ordering them to halt their activities that allegedly violate their NGO obligation of neutrality. ...

Two Ministry of Mines officials were convicted on corruption charges yesterday in a Phnom Penh court after confessing to selling state land, but nonetheless walked free after a judge reduced their sentences. ...