CCHR Briefing Note on Judicial Reform in Cambodia

Dear all,

Today, 18 February 2013, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights ("CCHR") is releasing the second in a series of four Briefing Notes, one per week for the next month. Each will examine key issues related to human rights in Cambodia: political and electoral reform; judicial reform; freedom of expression; and land reform.

The attached Briefing Note - on judicial reform - outlines the current state of the judiciary in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”), analyzes shortcomings in the functioning of the judiciary and courts, and offers recommendations for reforms which would substantially benefit the functioning of the judiciary and facilitate greater judicial independence in Cambodia. This Briefing Note identifies four main areas of judicial reform to strengthen the independence and integrity of the judiciary: 1) Draft laws should be fast-tracked and enacted and necessary amendments should be made to existing laws to ensure that they can be properly enforced and have real impact upon the way in which the legal and judicial systems operate; 2) Community education should be provided and information disseminated to ensure that citizens are aware of their legal rights; 3) Improvements should be made in legal training and resources to produce skilled and knowledgeable lawyers who are experts in their field and fully competent members of the judiciary; and 4) An immediate and unconditional commitment should be given from both the Royal Government of Cambodia (the “RGC”) and the judiciary that the courts will not be misused as political tools to silence dissent and stifle debate.

Please find the Briefing Note attached in Khmer and English.

For more information, please contact CCHR President Ou Virak via telephone at  +855 (0) 12 40 40 51  or e-mail at ouvirak@cchrcambodia.org or Senior Consultant Robert Finch via telephone at  +855 (0) 78 80 99 60  or e-mail at robert.finch@cchrcambodia.org.

Kind regards,
CCHR