News

The single-party National Assembly sat for the second day of its third plenary session Wednesday, discussing two of eight chapters of the draft law on the Organization and Functioning of the Courts. The CPP-only parliament—minus 55 boycotting opposition CNRP lawmakers-elect—convened to discuss the first of three ...

The National Assembly yesterday opened debate for the first time on the first of three controversial judicial draft laws, approving in principle the first two chapters of the Law on the Organisation and Functioning of the Courts, in the continued absence of the opposition Cambodia ...

CPP lawmakers on Wednesday began debating the first of three judicial reform laws, ignoring an opposition boycott of the National Assembly and calls from outside legal experts for outside review of drafts they say are substandard. Critics say the draft laws will not improve the widely ...

The National Assembly approved changes to the country’s customs law yesterday, in order to comply with Association of Southeast Asian Nations intergration standards. The changes demand border operations increase human resources, reduce paperwork and modernise procedures in order to simplify border exchange and facilitate trade between ...

Three constitutionally mandated judicial laws would adversely affect the independence of the courts if they are passed in their current draft state, legal experts warned on Friday. Draft versions of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, the Law ...

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni arrived in Phnom Penh, capital city of Cambodia, on Monday morning after the tour to France for two weeks to strengthen and expand bilateral ties and cooperation. ...

The National Assembly has scheduled a plenary session on May 20 to discuss three controversial draft laws on judicial reform, a senior ruling party lawmaker confirmed Sunday. The parliamentary meeting will be the third plenary session since last year’s disputed national election, each of which have ...

Human Rights Watch says three draft laws on the verge of approval by the National Assembly, intended to assure the independence of Cambodia’s courts, would do just the opposite, and has called on the government to withdraw them. The Council of Ministers approved the trio of ...

The opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Thursday announced to hold demonstration again to demand the release of 23 detained protesters who have been arrested in violent clashes earlier this year. Sam Rainsy renewed the opposition protest plan while he as well as Kem Sokha led supporters ...

In the wake of a speech by Prime Minister Hun Sen denouncing civil society’s criticism of the way that three judiciary laws sailed through the Council of Ministers without outside input or transparency, NGOs released an open letter yesterday calling for the Kingdom’s renewed commitment ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen used a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh Monday to denounce criticism from civil society groups who say that his government is rushing judicial reforms into law without ap­­propriate public consultation. Speaking at the ceremony for about 1,800 students from the Asia Euro ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday that the cabinet is not obliged by any law to seek suggestions from the civil society. The premier made comments at a graduation ceremony of Asia European University in response to non-government organizations which condemned the approval on April ...

More than five years after the close of the 2008 fiscal year, the National Audit Authority (NAA) on Thursday released its audit into the government’s financial management in 2008. The 38-page report is only the third such audit carried out since the department opened in 2000 ...

The latest version of the government’s draft law on NGOs, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in January, is identical to an earlier version made available to civil society in 2011, with several outstanding concerns still intact, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights ...

The Council of Ministers of Cambodia on Friday passed three draft laws, designed to strengthen the country’s longtime-criticized judicial system, according to a government media statement. The green light was given during a weekly cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

Cambodia’s highly secretive draft law on cybercrime, which has never been released publicly, seeks to criminalise online content that “slanders or undermines” government agencies, ministries or officials or affects “political cohesiveness”, a copy obtained by the Post reveals. The law, which was first announced in May ...

The Royal Palace yesterday said the letter sent by opposition leader Sam Rainsy to King Norodom Sihamoni last week that elicited a furious response from the government for “insulting” the King, did not, in fact, disrespect the monarch’s “honour and name”. A statement signed by the ...

The United Nations independent expert on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, expressed concern today that the country’s National Assembly held its second session last week without the opposition representatives taking up their seat, and urged the legislature to upkeep the key principles of ...

The Areng Chorng ethnic minority group yesterday submitted five petitions – addressed to the UN office in Cambodia and four government institutions – seeking a halt to the Sinohydro dam project in Koh Kong province. After blocking Sinohydro from entering the dam site in the Areng ...

A draft law meant to improve the maintenance and construction of Cambodia’s dilapidating roads was passed yesterday in a one-sided session of the National Assembly that saw ruling party lawmakers lambast Public Works and Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek for his allegedly poor stewardship. ...

The National Assembly of Cambodia on Thursday ratified a protocol on the investment promotion and protection agreement between the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam. All 64 lawmakers of the ruling party, who were present at the parliamentary session, unanimously approved the protocol as the opposition party’s ...

Ruling party members continued to meet at the National Assembly on Wednesday, discussing a draft law on roadways despite a boycott by the opposition. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has refused to participate in the new government, following 2013 elections it says were marred by ...

Diplomats, legal experts and political analysts all met in a forum in Phnom Penh Tuesday to discuss the implications of last year’s election and the ongoing political deadlock. Some diplomats, like Dinesh Patnaik, India’s ambassador to Cambodia, questioned the legitimacy of a government the opposition refuses ...

The opposition CNRP made another pitch for an end to free trade benefits for Cambodian sugar exports to the European Union at a meeting in Phnom Penh on Wednesday with visiting European Parliament members, blaming the benefits for effectively subsidizing companies that are evicting poor ...