Law and judiciary

An updated version of the draft Trade Union Law gives the Labor Ministry the power to suspend unions that “cooperate” or hold joint activities with groups the government deems to have caused economic sabotage or “damaged” the national interest, according to a copy of the ...

With the approval last week of a draft NGO law by Cambodia’s Council of Ministers, many pro-democracy and rights advocates say they should now have a chance to add their comments on the bill, before it goes to the National Assembly for debate. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged a businessman yesterday after he was accused of cheating his business partner out of more than $30,000 in 2014. ...

An NGO umbrella group says it has seen a new, leaked copy of a controversial draft law that aims to regulate the country’s hundreds of non-government organizations—and that the latest version marks a significant step backward. ...

Armed Vietnamese soldiers on Monday tried to prevent more than 300 people led by CNRP lawmakers from visiting a disputed border area in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadaw district, a lawmaker and a rights worker said. ...

Police in Siem Reap province delayed sending seven suspects accused of running a ponzi scheme to court Monday on the order of a prosecutor, who said the director of the company behind the scheme would be appearing today to “guarantee them.” ...

At least two women and five men are in custody at Siem Reap provincial police headquarters amid allegations they ran an unlicensed investment firm. The arrests, which followed a Wednesday statement by the provincial governor warning citizens to be vigilant with their money, took place at ...

A handcart-puller who was knocked unconscious by military police during a May 26 protest in Poipet City—sparking an attack on the local customs office—on Friday filed a court complaint requesting $10,000 in compensation from his attackers, a rights monitor said Sunday. ...

Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko was released from prison in Sihanoukville over the weekend after the Supreme Court granted him bail due to his poor health, more than two months after he was jailed on charges related to a dispute with his recently deported investment partner, ...

The Cambodian government is trying to weather criticism over the lack of transparency concerning the proposed draft law on NGOs that is now in the hands of the National Assembly. But another important draft law regulating trade unions is being heavily criticized for violating international ...

Rights groups want Cambodia’s parliament to hold a consultation with civil society about a controversial draft law on nongovernmental organizations approved Friday by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has long demonstrated animosity toward organizations outside of state control. ...

A controversial draft law to regulate Cambodia’s NGOs has passed a major hurdle and will be moved on to the National Assembly for legislative debate. Om Chandara, a spokesman for the council, told VOA Khmer that two articles were withdrawn at the behest of Prime ...

A monk who is a member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF) – a dissident group branded a terrorist organisation by the government – was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday on treason charges for distributing KNLF literature in Phnom Penh.​ ...

The Cambodian government has been taken to task in a lengthy report by Amnesty International for two years of “violent repression.” Researchers for the human rights organisation found that between Nov. 2013 and May of this year, people’s basic rights to assemble were stifled, excessive and ...

Cambodia is refusing protection for almost 100 Montagnard asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Vietnam as four refugees travel from Nauru to the impoverished nation under a controversial $55.5 million agreement with Australia. ...

Following the intervention of Indonesia’s ambassador to Cambodia last week, 10 Indonesian nationals left the country Sunday after being released by police in Kandal province, where they were being held over a $161,000 theft at a local casino, an embassy official said. ...

Cambodia received one of the lowest scores in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2015, released Tuesday, ranking 99 out of 102 countries surveyed. ...

Two opposing camps of unions representing a large share of the country’s roughly 700,000 garment workers handed in petitions this week to the U.S. Embassy and others asking for their support on a controversial draft union law during a visit to the country from a ...

The Cambodian navy on Monday formally took control of Koh Damlong, a remote island that was slated to become the crown jewel of Sergei Polonsky’s offshore tourism project before the Russian developer was deported to Moscow to stand trial on serious fraud charges, officials said ...

A senior US diplomat has raised concerns over a proposed law to govern NGOs in Cambodia. Hor Namhong told reporters Tuesday the draft law is not meant to impose undue burdens on NGOs. Civil society will have a chance to comment on the draft when ...

Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, who was deported to Moscow last month to face trial on serious fraud charges, could be allowed to return to Cambodia in five years’ time, an immigration official said Sunday. ...

In anticipation of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, Phnom Penh’s City Hall called upon tobacco companies to stop the illegal advertisement of cigarettes and for district officials to start enforcing non-smoking zones, in an event at Wat Phnom on Friday. ...

A couple was arrested and sent to court yesterday after attempting to sell $38,000 in fake diamond jewellery to a gold vendor in Preah Sihanouk province, according to provincial military police.​ ...

Almost 1,000 Cambodian soldiers have been deployed along the Vietnamese border in Ratanakkiri province in an effort to combat crimes including “illegal immigration”, military officials said yesterday. ...