CCHR PRESS RELEASE – Phnom Penh, 20 April 2014
CCHR calls on the National Assembly to postpone the adoption of the three laws related to the judiciary
The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (“CCHR”) condemns the approval on 18 April 2014 by the Council of Ministers of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Courts, the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, and the Law on the Statute of Judges and Prosecutors without prior publication and open and broad consultations.
The laws will now shortly be sent to the National Assembly (“NA”). CCHR urges the NA to postpone the adoption of these three fundamental laws until Members of Parliaments of both political parties, elected during the July 2013 NA elections, have taken their seats and until broad and public consultations are organized on the draft laws.
It is crucial that the NA makes the draft legislations public to allow for relevant stakeholders including civil society, legal professionals and the general public to give feedback and make comments. Citizens have the right to participate actively in the life of the nation guaranteed under Article 35 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia and as such to contribute to those three fundamental legislations. Every citizen of the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) will be impacted by these laws and should have a chance to comment on them.
In February 2014, the Ministry of Justice refused to share the draft legislations with CCHR. The opacity and lack of transparency surrounding the drafting and approval of these three laws only reinforces the urgent need for a right to information law to be adopted.
CCHR Trial Monitoring Project Coordinator, Duch Piseth comments:
“These three laws are fundamental to the functioning of the judiciary in Cambodia and have the potential to either enhance its independence, efficiency and transparency or, on the contrary, further strengthen the influence of and control by the executive over the judiciary. The overall lack of transparency surrounding the laws makes me worry and wonder what the Royal Government of Cambodia is trying to hide. Open discussion and participation in the drafting and adoption of these laws is a crucial moment for Cambodia, with the potential to restore trust in our justice system. I urge the NA to ensure the general public is consulted and its feedbacks taken into account.”
For more information, please contact Mr. Piseth Duch via telephone at + 855 (0) 12 71 23 71 or email at duchpiseth@cchrcambodia.org or CCHR Technical Assistant Elise Tillet via telephone +855 (0) 77 70 97 23 or email at elise.tillet@cchrcambodia.org.
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