Law and judiciary

Thirty-one evicted Borei Keila community families received flats and another four families got $15,000 buyouts on Saturday as part of a “lucky draw” organised to resolve their years-long land dispute. ...

About 50 Phnom Penh residents gathered On Sunday to rally against a planned road on Chroy Changva peninsula that will run alongside a massive $3 billion development project. The 12-meter-wide road will be located just 100 meters behind National Road 6A. ...

In response to the Facebook comment of a medical student, Prime Minister Hun Sen has decided to lower the final exam fee for medical students from about $125 to $25. ...

Cambodia’s National Police have joined the fray in an ongoing crackdown against illegal logging, starting their own “mission group” following the creation of a military police task force last week. ...

The ministries of health and information are working together to put some teeth into last year’s law restricting the advertisement of tobacco products to sale locations. ...

Six months after it started construction, Kith Meng’s Royal Group has been ordered to demolish a nearly finished jetty on O’Tres Beach near Sihanoukville, with local officials saying the tycoon’s company was never granted permission to build it in the first place. ...

In a joint statement, civil society and labor leaders urged the government to accept changes to the law as they continue to discuss it. ...

In a move to crack down on future illegal logging, the government has created a special Commission, led by human rights group Adhoc, which will review and cancel any licenses of companies that violate forestry laws. ...

Next week, Cambodia will join a conference focused on stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The conference, to be held in Washington D.C. on January 27th, is part of the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), started in 2003 to keep bomb parts ...

Unions yesterday called for further discussion of the draft trade union law after a bipartisan committee tasked with examining the controversial legislation concluded on Tuesday having agreed to few substantive changes. ...

After seeing a signing ceremony interrupted by protesters on Tuesday, officials from the joint committee for Borei Keila housing solutions yesterday inked compensation deals with 32 out of 56 evicted families. ...

Authorities from the government’s new anti-logging task force swooped into Stung Treng yesterday and inspected timber stockpiles belonging to the Kingdom’s most prominent logging magnate, Try Pheap, who has been accused of reaping immense profits from the clear-cutting of Cambodian forests for years. ...

The oft-delayed and amended traffic law is scheduled to take effect in mid-March after being postponed since January due to widespread complaints from citizens across the country. Although the law won’t take effect until mid-March, police are still checking vehicle documents, and are looking out ...

Authorities raided yet another rubber plantation on Tuesday as part of a new dragnet to catch illegal loggers in eastern Cambodia, said Eng Hy, spokesman for the National Military Police. ...

The Interior Ministry has asked Interpol to help arrest a “Cambodian living abroad” it believes is responsible for doctoring and circulating an image of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s wife, according to a ministry spokesman. ...

Five shouting protesters yesterday morning shut down a meeting of the joint committee for housing solutions in Borei Keila before it could sign cash compensation deals with 56 evicted families. ...

Ministry of Interior officials will meet to discuss the internationally condemned Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (LANGO) with representatives of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), officials said yesterday following a letter sent by the group to Interior Minister Sar Kheng last week. ...

Traffic police will not fine road users for offenses related to licenses and vehicle documentation until March 15, while other provisions of the new Land Traffic Law will continue to be enforced as usual, officials said on Tuesday. ...

Timber magnate Try Pheap and businessman Lim Bunna were granted economic land concessions (ELCs) on property inside a wildlife sanctuary confiscated from two other companies for violating their government contracts, a provincial governor told a meeting of officials on Monday. ...

A rights group official said he was threatened for looking into a December homicide case in Pursat province that left one woman dead and her brother injured. ...

A collection of houses and other structures belonging to nine families living alongside a canal in the capital’s Russey Keo district was destroyed yesterday by a large group of men sent by local authorities.   ...

Cambodia’s military police said yesterday that they have sealed the Vietnam border against wood transport following a major crackdown on two tycoons’ logging warehouses on Sunday. Local observers and experts, however, suggested the actions were little more than a hiccup for a long-tolerated illicit trade. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday announced the creation of a committee tasked with putting an end to the rampant illegal logging and cross-border timber smug­­gling taking place in the country’s northeast.   លោកនាយករដ្ឋម ន្រ្តីហ៊ុនសែន នៅថ្ងៃសុក្រនេះ បានប្រកាស ការបង្កើតនៃ គណៈកម្មាធិ ការបញ្ចប់ ការកាប់ឈើខុសច្បាប់ ទោរទន់ រត់ពន្ធ និងជាកន្លែង ទទួលយក ឈើ ...

Authorities yesterday raided several logging warehouses in the country’s east, just days after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a crackdown on illegal timber smuggling into Vietnam. ...