Law and judiciary

Keep out of Cambodia’s internal affairs.This was the message delivered yesterday by Cambodia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn to country director for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Wan-Hea Lee at a meeting to discuss cooperation. ...

Undeterred by the $500,000 lawsuit filed against him by Prime Minister Hun Sen, political commentator Kim Sok returned to the radio waves on Tuesday to say that the government could settle the case against him by releasing video footage of Kem Ley’s murder. ...

Political commentator Kim Sok’s worldly possessions—two iPhones, an iPad and $200 in savings—may soon become Prime Minister Hun Sen’s property after the premier filed a $500,000 lawsuit against the commentator for allegedly claiming that the CPP killed Kem Ley. ...

Two human rights activists, who were summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday over allegations that they incited an attack on two Daun Penh district security guards in October, asked the court to have the real perpetrators arrested. ...

While stakeholders have lauded the government’s move to establish a bond market, in a bid to raise more funds from domestic sources, they, however, expressed concern that not enough has been done to inform the public on how debt security can support government spending. ...

The General Commissariat of National Police has announced it will take legal action against police officers found abusing their positions and demanding money from people at illegal checkpoints. ...

About 100 workers from the Chung Fai Knitwear factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district protested in front of the capital’s municipal court yesterday, demanding a judge remove a fee they are unable to pay. ...

Cambodia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to combat crimes including child and sexual trafficking.   ...

The government will this year stop printing the royal gazette for sale to the public and begin publishing new editions online, an official said yesterday. ...

More than 20 people were killed and 60 were injured in traffic accidents over the first two days of the Lunar New Year, a nearly 30 percent decline in fatalities compared with the same period last year.According to a National Police report, 38 traffic accidents ...

A United Nations expert has called on the government to immediately release human rights and National Election Committee officials who have been controversially accused of bribing a witness.“The charges are seen as politically motivated and in November 2016, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Governor acknowledged that the recently implemented village-commune safety policy has been less than effective after recent crime statistics showed an increase in crime in 2016 compared with the previous year.According to a City Hall meeting held over the past two days, ...

Cambodia’s judicial system is troubled by a cycle of corruption, with both sides of the bench accusing the other of perpetuating the practice of bribery, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Chairman Om Yentieng said on Thursday at the inauguration of the new bar association president. ...

Police tallied only 23 rapes in Phnom Penh last year despite an overall spike of 20 percent in criminal cases, prompting experts to caution that the data posted on the Cambodian National Police website provided only a partial picture of the city’s crimes. ...

The Ministry of Commerce has finished the draft consumer protection law and will soon submit it to the Council of Ministers, according to a senior government official.​ ...

Only 600 drivers have been sent to court since the new Traffic Law technically took effect in January and legally in March.According to a National Road Safety Committee report released yesterday, out of almost 10 million vehicles that were checked, 1.5 million were found to ...

The Permanent Committee of the National Assembly (NA) approved a number of amendments to the Traffic Law yesterday, sending them on to parliament’s 7th plenary session for final ratification on Monday.NA spokesman Leng Peng Long said the committee decided on amendments to nine articles of ...

Truck drivers without licenses who take workers to factories will not be allowed to continue working starting next April in a bid to reduce traffic accidents, the government said on Monday. ...

The government yesterday assured those in the garment industry that the Trade Union Law, which came into effect in May, is not meant to put pressure on any particular group, but rather to help employers and employees work together in harmony. Labor Ministry secretary of state ...

The government has appointed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to draft a law to crack down on illegal activity surrounding the recently banned commercial surrogacy industry in Cambodia. Ministry spokeswoman Kheng Sam Vada confirmed the news, which was originally announced by government spokesperson and Minister of ...

More than 40 unions have joined together to ask the Labor Ministry to make changes to 10 articles in the draft Minimum Wage Law, saying the law did not cover all sectors and restricted the rights of union representatives in wage negotiations among a host ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday hit back at opposition critics of his efforts to seek French expert help in modernising old colonial maps of Cambodia’s border with Vietnam, rejecting their claims that such an effort would require a constitutional amendment. ...

The Appeal Court yesterday dismissed a bail request for Tep Vanny, the prominent Boeung Kak land activist charged with intentional violence related to a protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house in 2013, a case reactivated after she was arrested during a Black Monday protest ...

The United Nations is standing behind Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) country representative Wan-Hea Lee after a letter signed by Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon accused her of failing to respect Cambodia’s sovereignty.​ ...