News
Court rebuffs Koh Kong families seeking to reclaim land
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday rejected the request of five families from Koh Kong province to nullify the deals they made seven years ago to give up their land to a local sugarcane plantation on the grounds that they were coerced. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-rebuffs-koh-kong-families-seeking-to-reclaim-land-127541/
Mother Nature sentence upheld as activists mull return
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld a $25,000 fine for three environmental activists who fled the country after being convicted of threatening to destroy a sand dredging barge in Koh Kong province in 2015. They are now debating returning home, however, after the court ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mother-nature-sentence-upheld-as-activists-mull-return-125236/
Appeal Court hears kidney trafficker case
The Court of Appeal yesterday heard the case of three organ traffickers convicted of convincing relatives to travel to Thailand to have their kidneys sold between 2012 and 2014. ...
Kim Sarom
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/appeal-court-hears-kidney-trafficker-case
Political fraudster appeals sentence
The Court of Appeal yesterday heard the bail request of the former director of the small Khmer Economic Development Party, who had been handed a sentence of two years in prison for defrauding a land buyer out of $150,000 in 2008. ...
Kim Sarom
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/political-fraudster-appeals-sentence
Bandith, his victims appeal
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal filed by three garment workers shot by disgraced Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith during a 2012 demonstration, since Bandith’s lawyer did not turn up to court. Bandith was sentenced to 18 months in prison in June last ...
May Titthara
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/bandith-his-victims-appeal
Battambang families to petition Prime Minister
A group of families involved in a land dispute with a businessman in Battambang province will today submit petitions to the National Assembly and Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet to plead for intervention. The more than 300 families, from Bavel district’s Boeng Bram commune, maintain that ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/battambang-families-to-petition-prime-minister-67156/
Cambodian court frees 3 opposition activists on bail
Cambodia’s Appeal Court on Friday granted bail to three opposition youth activists, who were arrested early this month for alleged involvements in a violent protest last month, a defense lawyer confirmed. “Appeal Court’s Judge Seng Sivutha decided to release the trio on bail,”Chen Lida, a ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-08/22/c_133576343.htm
Judge agrees to delay trial
Greg Thomas Fryett, a British businessman arrested by the Anti-Corruption Unit last year for alleged links to a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, went on trial on Friday at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/judge-agrees-delay-trial
Union boss to appeal $25k bail
Union leader Ath Thorn has been granted an Appeal Court appearance on July 1, in which he will argue against conditions that required him to pay $25,000 bail over an ongoing court case. The Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) president is due to ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-boss-appeal-25k-bail
Reform needed with new appeal courts on the way
As part of a trio of long-awaited judicial laws passed last month by the National Assembly, the country’s judicial system is set to integrate a number of new provincial appeal courts, expanding access to the appeal process to people imprisoned outside Phnom Penh. But the only ...
Lauren Crothers and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/reform-needed-with-new-appeal-courts-on-the-way-62217/
Defendants not informed of rights in cambodian appeal court cases: study
Judges in Cambodia’s Court of Appeal fail to inform defendants of their rights and a high number of hearings do not even have the defendants or their lawyers present, according to a study by a local rights group. In addition, the quality of evidence presented at ...
Richard Finney
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/rights-06232014173104.html
Union leader appeals court orders restricting his activities
Ath Thorn, the president of the country’s largest independent labor union, said Friday that he has appealed court orders restricting his unionizing activity and is seeking support from international labor organizations as he faces charges of incitement. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has ordered Mr. Thorn, ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-appeals-court-orders-restricting-his-activities-57425/
Conviction against ‘Grandma Crocodile’ upheld
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld a 2012 conviction of encroaching on public land, but significantly reduced the sentence, against businesswoman Chhin Sokountheary for illegally filling in part of a Phnom Penh lake. Ms. Sokountheary—also known as Grandma Crocodile for the crocodile farm she owns—was ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/conviction-against-grandma-crocodile-upheld-57088/
Seventy-eight judges and court officials reshuffled
With new laws in the pipeline to reform the judiciary, the Supreme Council of Magistracy has announced a reshuffling of judges and court staff, with 78 officials promoted or transferred, according to a royal decree signed April 6. The job changes, which include senior judges and ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/seventy-eight-judges-and-court-officials-reshuffled-56529/
Judges required to explain reasons behind pre-trial detention
Judges are now required to write a reasoned explanation when placing citizens in pre-trial detention, instead of simply checking a box as was previously practiced, Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana said Tuesday. But the Ministry of Justice is also considering amending the criminal procedure code to ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/judges-required-to-explain-reasons-behind-pre-trial-detention-54913/
IDEA activist denied bail
Moments after Prak Sovannary heard the Court of Appeal denied her husband’s request for bail, she sobbed over a speaker affixed to the top of a tuk-tuk, condemning the decision to about 150 supporters. “Release him! Release him!” said Sovannary, the wife of Independent Democracy of ...
Chhay Channyda and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/idea-activist-denied-bail
Bail request for Pov as union seeks property
A union leader among 21 workers and activists arrested in January demonstrations will appear in the Court of Appeal to argue for bail next week, despite the same court denying his request last month. Vorn Pov, president of Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA), and ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bail-request-pov-union-seeks-property
Proposed law gives new powers to Justice Ministry
The last of three draft laws written with the aim of cleaning up the courts establishes four new judicial chambers, but legal and political experts worry that it does little to loosen the grip of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Justice Ministry over the courts. The draft ...
Lauren Crothers and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/proposed-law-gives-new-powers-to-justice-ministry-54546/
Borei Keila firm told to pay $2.7 million
Suy Sophan, the owner of development firm Phan Imex, has been ordered to repay $2.7 million to a Korean company over an uncompleted sale of land at Borei Keila, from where hundreds have been violently evicted, a court document reveals. In a decision handed down in ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/borei-keila-firm-told-pay-27-million
A year after trial, still free
One year ago today, ex-Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith smiled as he sat before a judge at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh on the first day of his trial for shooting and badly injuring three unarmed garment workers at a protest in Prey Veng ...
May Titthara and Stuart White
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/year-after-trial-still-free