CAMBODIA’S
LEGAL AND GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM
AND LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE
BY H.E. ANG VONG VATHNA
MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Before commencing my short presentation on Cambodia Legal System and
Legislative Procedure, I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude
to the Government of Republic of Korea, especially the Ministry of Government Legislation
for their warm hospitality and excellent arrangements extended to us.
Cambodia’s legal system, which is primarily based on the French civil law tradition,
suffered significant setbacks as a result of CPK policies during the 1975 - 1979 period. But
since 1998, in conformity with Legal and Judicial Reform Policy of the Royal Government
of Cambodia, the Ministry of Justice as an implementing agency and justice administration
authority has made a remarkable achievements in strengthening and building legal and
judicial system of Cambodia, a few hundred laws have been enacted and entered into force.
I-LEGAL AND GOVERNMENT SYSTEM
Under the 1993 constitution, Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy with the
King as its head of state. The King represents a symbol of unity and eternity of the nation.
The Head of Government is an elected Prime Minister. Legislative power is vested
in a bicameral parliament, while the judicial power is exercised by a constitutionally
independent judiciary.
In addition to providing for a separation of executive, judicial and legislative
powers, the constitution guarantees respect for citizens’ fundamental rights contained in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.
Numerous of these rights are expressly set out in the constitution, and they include the right
to life, the right to freedom of expression and association, the right to peaceful protest,
and the protection of legal ownership. The constitution obligates the state to respect the
rights of children and prohibits all forms of discrimination against women. It also sets out
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due process protections such as the presumption of innocence and equality before the law.
Capital punishment is prohibited.
The constitution preserves the validity of previously enacted legislation to the
extent that the latter is not inconsistent with the constitution itself. Cambodia’s legal system
therefore comprises legislation enacted under past administrations, as well as more recent
laws, which have been adopted since 1993 to support the emerging market-based economy,
such as Civil Procedure Code (2006), Code of Criminal Procedure (2007), new Penal
Code (2009) entered into force in December 2010 and Civil Code will be enforceable from
December 2011 which are the pillars of Rule of Law in Cambodia.
Like others countries, the Cambodia’s Government system is composed of three
branches as follow:
Executive Branch
Cambodia’s executive government is formed by the party who acquires the majority
of seats in the National Assembly at legislative election. The Prime Minister, who is a
member of the Assembly, is appointed by the King on the recommendation of the President
and Vice Presidents of the National Assembly. Upon entry into office, the Prime Minister
appoints a Council of Ministers and submit to National Assembly for approval. The current
Prime Minister is Cambodia People Party’s (CPP), Samdech Techo Hun Sen.
Legislative Branch
The legislative comprises :
The Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Cambodian legislature and has 61 members.
Two of these are appointed by the King, two are elected by the lower house of Parliament,
and the remaining fifty-seven are elected through non-universal elections, by commune
councilors throughout the country and members of the National Assembly. Members of the
Senate serve six-year terms, and the first elections were held in 2006.
The National Assembly
The National Assembly consists of 123 members who serve five-year terms
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upon election. The President and two Vice Presidents of the Assembly are elected by the
members.
Judicial Branch
Following the toppling of the DK in 1979, people’s revolutionary courts were
established on an ad hoc basis by the PRK regime. Establishment of a more institutionalised
system did not take place until 1982 when a law providing for the organisation of courts
and the Office of the Public Prosecutor was promulgated. Under this law, a network of
courts was extended to each province and municipality and the People’s Supreme Court
was created as the highest court of the land. The arrival of UNTAC in 1992 brought further
important changes to the judicial system in Cambodia, including the creation of an Appeal
Court. This resulted in a three-tiered court system, consisting of courts of first instance
(municipal, provincial or military courts), the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court. As
noted above, the 1993 constitution provides for the independence of the judiciary from the
executive and the legislature.
A Supreme Council of Magistracy has been established in accordance with the 1993
constitution. Chaired by the King, the Council is responsible for the appointment of judges
and prosecutors at all levels, and for the adjudication of disciplinary actions against them.
II.LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE
As in other countries with a continental legal system, legislation is the primary
source of law in Cambodia. Other sources of law include the Constitution, government
decrees and regulations and human rights conventions ratified by Cambodia.
In this regard, I Would like to bring to your attention procedure and practical aspect
of law making in Cambodia. The Law, in stricto sensus, refers to legal text adopted by
Parliament according to constitutional and domestic procedure. There are 2 forms of text
laws that could be reviewed and adopted by the Parliament.
The first one, it is not frequent way, called proposition of law made by a certain
number of National Assembly Members or by certain number of Senators to be submitted
to the Parliament for review and adoption. If the Proposition of Law is adopted, it will be
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promulgated by the King and then published in Official Gazette.
The second one is very frequent and a usual way, called draft of law made by the
Government, especially by relevant ministries and submitted to the Parliament for review
and adoption. If the Draft of Law is adopted, it will be promulgated by the King and then
published in Official Gazette.
Here below, it is a summary of current procedure relating to formulation and
approval of draft law by government and relevant ministries.
Thank you for your attention!
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