Law and judiciary

Cambodia’s first juvenile justice law, in the works for nearly a decade, will be passed by the end of this year, according to the Ministry of Social of Affairs. ...

Another arrest warrant has been issued for opposition leader Sam Rainsy—who is living in France to avoid two years in jail for a defamation conviction—after he failed to turn up for questioning about a separate forgery and incitement case last month. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen hit back at critics of the new traffic law on Tuesday, singling out his own sister for what he said were unnecessarily negative Facebook posts.  ...

Vendors ousted from the grounds of Hun Sen Borey 100 Knorng Secondary School in Phnom Penh have accused the acting principal of corruption, including selling almost $2,000 worth of state property and forcing students to pay up to $100 to transfer to the institution. ...

In a rare move, the National Police on Monday leveled accusations of illegal logging against a number of government-granted economic land concessions (ELCs) in the eastern province of Mondolkiri, singling out a Chinese-owned rubber plantation and wealthy businessman Soeng Sam Ol. ...

The introduction of the new traffic law has hit a few potholes, with some citizens complaining that it is too tough on poor families, while analysts say people in rural areas have been left in the dark about the new law’s requirements.  ...

A joint commission of 10 lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties yesterday met for the first time to review the draft law on trade unions, and two of 21 articles that were flagged as controversial by unions have changed slightly. ...

The Siem Reap Provincial Court last week questioned a CPP village chief concurrently with a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) commune chief after they signed documents allowing villagers to mortgage land claimed by the Apsara Authority, officials said on Monday, but charged and jailed only the ...

Factory owners and four jailed garment workers will be summoned today to appear at the Svay Rieng Provincial Court in the coming days to provide “clarification” over a series of walkouts and riots that struck two special economic zones (SEZs) in Bavet City last month, ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Governor Pa Socheatvong yesterday lashed out at civil society groups he blamed for instigating protests aimed at destabilising the government. ...

Stricter controls on guns – including those carried by police – will be put in place following a spate of violent crimes involving firearms in recent weeks. ...

An ethnic Kuoy land rights activist was detained by police in Preah Vihear province on Monday after taking part in an ongoing protest against three businesses that villagers claim encroached on their farmland, officials said. ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s request to be questioned remotely by court officials in his latest defamation case cannot be allowed, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry said on Sunday. ...

True to its New Years resolution to enforce stricter traffic laws, the government pulled over a total of almost 25,000 drivers in the three days after the law came into effect. Though many drivers were sent off with a warning rather than a fine, the ...

Interior Ministry officials on Thursday laid out more details about plans to beef up road safety in anticipation of a new traffic law that comes into effect nationwide today, and conceded that the effort would not be without its challenges. ...

The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation stopped issuing new driver’s licences yesterday on the heels of a pledge by Prime Minister Hun Sen to lower their cost. ...

Government officials said the country’s Labor Court will be established in early 2017 while relevant officials study the technicalities of the court and get information as well as expertise from similar courts in other countries. Of all potential stakeholders, unions say they are the most ...

Stung Treng provincial governor Kol Sam Ol said on Tuesday that he had been replaced by his deputy, Mom Saroeun, and sent to work at the Interior Ministry in Phnom Penh. ...

Eight ethnic Jarai Montagnard Christians who fled alleged persecution in Vietnam and sought refuge in Cambodia are living in poor conditions, one of the refugees told Khmer Times yesterday.  ...

Police in Kompong Thom province on Monday arrested three men in a sting targeting sellers of looted, ancient statues, only to find that seven statues seized in the operation were in fact worthless copies of Buddhist artifacts, officials said. ...

Youth organizations and civil society organizations are calling on the Ministry of Health to push ahead with a proposed law regulating the sale of alcohol, saying that alcohol is damaging the country’s development.   ...

After more than a week traveling along remote forest trails in eastern Mondolkiri province, police and forestry officials transporting 30 large pieces of valuable timber seized from Vietnamese loggers earlier this month are expected to reach the end of their 120-km journey today, an official ...

A lawyer for two opposition lawmakers brutally beaten in front of the National Assembly two months ago appeared at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday on behalf of his clients, who earlier this month filed an attempted murder complaint against their attackers. ...

A new traffic law will come into force on January 1 that is hoped to reduce the number of people killed on Cambodia’s roads each year.Road accidents cost the economy an estimated $300 million annually, and the death toll from road accidents keeps rising. According ...