Law and judiciary

The National Assembly will hold an extraordinary session on Wednesday on some agendas including an amendment to the Penal Code that gives jail time to anyone insulting the King.The National Assembly’s permanent committees held a meeting yesterday afternoon presided by assembly President Heng Samrin to ...

Anti-human trafficking police are seeking the arrest of prominent Cham Muslim community leader and former Social Affairs Ministry official Ahmad Yahya for sending roughly 20 women to Saudi Arabia to work as maids more than a decade ago, after arresting his nephew last week. ...

Former Cambodia National Rescue Party member Ismail Pin Osman was arrested in Phnom Penh on Wednesday for alleged human trafficking, though police officials offered little detail on why he was taken into custody. ...

An investigating judge has rejected Kem Sokha’s request that he interview a representative from the US government in connection with the former opposition leader’s “treason” case, despite the fact that Sokha stands accused of plotting a US-backed overthrow of the Cambodian government. ...

Military police, forestry administration officers and Wildlife Alliance officials on Wednesday raided a house in Pursat province used to facilitate the illegal wildlife trade, seizing nearly 80 kilos of snakes. ...

The Australian Parliament is considering a motion to condemn Cambodia’s political crackdown, with lawmaker Mark Butler declaring Australia has “a solemn duty” to take action to defend Cambodia’s “fledgling democracy”.​ ...

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 30-month sentence for land activist Tep Vanny on charges relating to a 2013 protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house that turned violent, leaving the Boeung Kak resident to serve out more than a year of her remaining ...

Cambodian People’s Party spokesman Chhim Phal Virun was questioned Tuesday morning as a witness in the “treason” charges brought against former opposition leader Kem Sokha, his former colleague at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR). ...

Senior government figures yesterday noted major flaws in an ongoing drug crackdown, among them a lack of rehabilitation for incarcerated users, during a day-long review of the campaign yesterday. The government also proposed establishing five ill-defined “white villages” – or drug-free locations – on the ...

The National Assembly’s Permanent Committee met to discuss a proposed lèse majesté law yesterday, as criticism of the law and draft constitutional amendments continued to mount. National Assembly President Heng Samrin presided over the meeting, where it was decided to forward the draft law banning ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has accused a Kandal province businessman of defamation and operating an illegal digging site, a few weeks after he allegedly shot into the ground to scare off officials trying to inspect his land. ...

Five more suspects have been arrested and are being interrogated by authorities in relation to the murder of three forest patrollers last Tuesday in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, authorities confirmed yesterday. ...

Police in Mondulkiri province yesterday arrested a military officer who is a suspect in a shooting that killed three people during an operation to crack down on illegal logging. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the Council of Ministers would hold a meeting today to prepare amendments to the constitution and the penal code to create laws against insulting the king. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a fiery speech yesterday, threatening to “attack” members of the opposition with Soviet-era rocket launchers, while also claiming he would arrest them anywhere in Asia. ...

Former opposition leader Kem Sokha was denied bail this morning by the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, his lawyer Choung Choungy has confirmed. The hearing was held under a tight security presence, with Sokha brought in by police convoy before dawn. Human rights monitors and ...

The draft of the new Law on the Chamber of Commerce is again being reviewed by the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC). Once the proposed changes to the draft are completed, the law will be sent to the Council of Ministers for further discussion and approval, ...

A proposed access-to-information law more than a decade in the making was unveiled to the public yesterday, with just one item left to finalise – punishments for officials who refuse to disclose public information. ...

The Ministry of Justice today confirmed that a proposed lèse majesté law would be among a series of legal amendments considered by the Constitutional Council on Friday. ...

The Constitutional Council is planning to meet later this week to discuss amendments to the Constitution, including changes to an article guaranteeing the right for citizens to form organisations and political parties. ...

China’s growing presence and investment in a fast-developing Cambodian port and province have pushed up the crime rate and brought instability, its governor said in a letter to the government. ...

The Constitutional Council is planning to meet later this week to discuss amendments to the Constitution, including changes to an article guaranteeing the right for citizens to form organisations and political parties. The document, a letter of invitation to local media, outlines an agenda for the ...

The Preah Vihear Provincial Court has sent a man suspected of illegal logging in the Preah Vihear temple forestry conservation area to pre-trial detention, according to the provincial Environment Department. ...

Local officials who were sent to interview Cambodians facing deportation from the US allegedly attempted to extort bribes from the detainees and their families, according to documents filed in a California court. ...