Law and judiciary

Local rights groups have raised major concerns about Cambodia’s sweeping new Telecommunications Law, which gives the government virtually unchecked spying powers and criminalizes any electronic communication deemed to cause “national insecurity.” ...

Opposition lawmaker Kong Saphea – one of the two parliamentarians brutally beaten by anti-CNRP protesters outside of the National Assembly last year – has been summonsed to appear for questioning over a complaint regarding property stolen from him during the attack. ...

The National Committee for Road Traffic Safety announced that from Tuesday, traffic police will start intensifying their enforcement of the recently implemented traffic law after a two-month test period showed positive results. ...

A government anti-trafficking committee is in the final steps of drafting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to crack down on human trafficking between Cambodia and China, an official said yesterday. ...

In what one commentator described as “a bold step”, the Interior Ministry’s prisons department has seemingly admitted it has a drug problem, and last week sent a letter requesting the Health Ministry’s assistance in tackling it. ...

More than 250 Preah Vihear families who have been living under the threat of eviction since 2010 are to be allowed to keep their homes, according to a letter from the Interior Ministry obtained yesterday. ...

The CPP appears set to pass a controversial trade union law next month despite conceding it is “not 100 percent perfect” and failing to address a litany of objections from unions, employers and the opposition party. ...

A freight train traveling from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville plowed into a cement company truck crossing the tracks in Kampot province on Wednesday afternoon, leaving the truck driver and his assistant with minor injuries, police said Thursday. ...

More than 100 villagers from Chroy Changvar yesterday protested a draft sub-decree that would make Phnom Penh Municipality the legal owner of 280 hectares of land that are part of the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation’s $3 billion satellite city development. ...

More than 200 activists attempting to cycle from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh to mark International Women’s Day were penned in by authorities Tuesday morning after pedaling less than 100 meters. ...

A task force made up of police and investigators from a child protection organization Thursday began searching in Siem Reap province for wanted Dutch pedophile Pieter Ceulen, according to a member of the team. ...

Sihanoukville beachfront businesses that were due to be bulldozed this weekend have been granted a temporary stay of execution. ...

The top judge and prosecutor in Cambodia’s judiciary will see their allowances rise 300 per cent to $2,500, while those in lower courts are also in for significant hikes, according to a decree released yesterday. ...

Two unionists jailed since February 2 have been released on bail by the Kompong Speu Provincial Court, although they remain charged with incitement and intentional violence in connection with a protest outside the Cerie garment factory, officials said Thursday. ...

A former employee of a microfinance institution (MFI) was Tuesday jailed on charges of embezzling some $300,000 from the company, a court official said. ...

A former employee of a microfinance institution (MFI) was Tuesday jailed on charges of embezzling some $300,000 from the company, a court official said. ...

The province of Banteay Meanchey will build a new market for vendors displaced from the Long Keur market on the Thai side of the Poipet border, a provincial official said yesterday, adding that vendors will be allowed to continue selling their counterfeit goods at the ...

The Club of Cambodian Journalists on Monday called for politicians and local authorities to be more transparent and help facilitate the work that journalists do in order for them to better serve society. ...

As the government issued a familiar package of platitudes and promises on International Women’s Day, a walk through a single rural village in Kandal offered a shocking glimpse into how widespread – and widely accepted – domestic abuse remains in the Kingdom. ...

The Cambodian government on Friday approved a new regulation that will impose fines for public smoking. ...

With the draft union law due to be debated during a public forum on Wednesday, a group of 21 unions and NGOs released a statement yesterday calling on the National Assembly to allow more time to discuss the legislation before it is passed.  ...

Although they remain publicly unnamed, nine businessmen in the timber industry were summoned to appear at the Tbong Khmum provincial court today for alleged deforestation crimes and illegal business dealings, according to officials. ...

Police burned nearly 45,000 marijuana plants growing on public forest land in Takeo province on Tuesday and Wednesday after they were tipped off by local villagers, police said Thursday. ...

A prominent anti-dam activist in Koh Kong province who has been jailed since October was convicted Thursday of illegal logging and given a suspended prison sentence, allowing him to walk free but leaving the shadow of a criminal conviction hanging over him. ...