Cambodian law ច្បាប់កម្ពុជា

commercial court in Cambodia?

2011-09-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

List of relevant document to commercial resolution mechanisms in Cambodia:

some useful link on law and justice

2011-04-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

PLAIN LANGUAGE LAW, No. 51, March 2011
Law and Justice Foundation of NSW

Past editions of the newsletter are now searchable through 'plain language law search' which contains over 800 resources. It is searchable by format (eg DVD, booklet, etc), language, law type and target group. The database is available through the Foundation's website at:http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/pllsearch

WHAT'S IN THIS EDITION
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COMMUNITY LEGAL EDUCATION
GUIDES TO THE LAW

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COMMUNITY LEGAL EDUCATION

Manage your own divorce (NSW), 2011, [Workshop], Legal Aid Commission NSW, Free, 02 9219 5028
http://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=599
This two-hour workshop will provide information about how to complete and lodge divorce application forms, a step-by-step explaination of the divorce process and information about service of documents and the hearing. The workshop will be held on various dates throughout 2011 at Legal Aid offices in Haymarket, Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Dubbo, Fairfield, Gosford, Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith and Tamworth.

Social, community, home care & disability services industry award workshops (NSW), 2011, [Workshop], Office of Industrial Relations, Free, 131 628, oirinformation.services@oir.commerce.nsw.gov.au
https://www.events.industrialrelations.nsw.gov.au/clientview/DefaultSearch.aspx?SearchType=GroupSearch&CourseGroupID=33
This series of workshops held on various dates throughout NSW will look at how some of the provisions of the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services modern award impact on employees. Arrangements for transitioning from wage rates and penalties in the pre modern award to those in the modern award will also be discussed.

Young people and crime: panel discussion (NSW), 2011, [Workshop], Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), Free, 02 9273 1558,liac@sl.nsw.gov.au
This panel will consist of the authors of Hot Topics 73: Young people & crime will discuss the interaction of young people with the criminal justice system. The panel discussion will be held on Tuesday 10 May 2011 at 9am and 11am at the State Library of NSW. To book contact the State Library by phone on 9273 1770 or by email at bookings@sl.nsw.gov.au.

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GUIDES TO THE LAW

Activist Rights Manual (NSW), Redfern Legal Centre, 2011, [Web site], Redfern Legal Centre, Free, 02 9698 7277, info@rlc.org.au,
http://www.activistrightsmanual.com/index.html
This updated web site aims to help activists who attend political protests by providing legal and referral information. Issues covered include protesting in general, identification and being searched, public order law, being arrested and common criminal offences.

Alcohol, drugs and nightlife (NSW), 2010, 2p., [Factsheet], Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre Inc, Free, 02 4422 9529,
http://www.shoalcoast.org.au/publications/11-alcohol-drugs-and-nightlife.html
This factsheet provides information on drinking restrictions, party gate-crashers, noise restrictions, age restrictions on attending pubs and clubs and drug offences. It also provides contact details for a number of relevant organisations that can provide further information.

Budget resource kit (NSW), 2011, [Kit], Lismore Neighbourhood Centre, Free, 02 6621 7397,
http://www.lnci.org.au/budgetresourcekit.html
This kit provides information to help individuals manage budget preparation, understand credit and debt issues and address related legal problems such as dispute resolution, debt recovery and going to court. It also provides contact details for relevant agencies that can provide further information and assistance.

Coronial inquest unit (NSW), 2011, 2p., [Pamphlet], Legal Aid NSW, Free, 02 9219 5028, publications@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
http://lacextra.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/Publications/FileUpload/Doc/ImprintFile701.pdf
This pamphlet explains how Legal Aid can provide representation at coronial inquests and who they will represent. Details of how to apply for representation are also provided.

Disability support pension (NSW), 2011, 8p., [Pamphlet], Legal Aid NSW, Free, 02 9219 5028, publications@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
http://lacextra.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/Publications/FileUpload/Doc/ImprintFile703.pdf
This pamphlet provides information on how to claim a disability support pension and what to do if your claim has been refused. It also provides information for your doctor and contact details of Legal Aid offices throughout NSW.

Discrimination (Hot topics No 75) (NSW), Melanie Schleiger, 2010, 24p., [Booklet], Legal Information Access Centre, $22.00, 02 9273 1558,liac@sl.nsw.gov.au
http://www.legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/hot_topics/
This edition explains what discrimination law covers including age, disability, race, marital status and pregnancy and outlines options for people who have been victims of discrimination (including how to make complaint). It outlines the sources of anti-discrimination law both internationally and in Australia.

Domestic violence and AVO issues for flood victims (NSW), 2011, 2p., [Factsheet], Women's Legal Services NSW, Free, 02 9747 7700,
http://www.womenslegalnsw.asn.au/pdfs/WLSNSW-AVO-flood-factsheet.pdf
This factsheet provides information for people protected by an AVO who have been affected by the recent flooding. It explains legal rights and options and provides contact details of various organisations that can provide further information and assistance.

Driving (NSW), 2010, 2p., [Factsheet], Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre Inc, Free, 02 4422 9529,
http://www.shoalcoast.org.au/publications/13-driving.html
This factsheet explains various legal considerations when driving including buying a car, insurance, motor vehicle accidents, driving and traffic offences. It also provides contact details for a number of relevant organisations that can provide further information.

Drugs and the law (Hot topics 59) (NSW), Steve Bolt, 2011, 2nd ed., 28p., [Booklet], Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC), $22.00, 02 9273 1558, liac@sl.nsw.gov.au
http://www.legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/guides/drugs/index.cfm
This updated issue covers drug laws in NSW, including possession, use and supply, youth related issues, the court process, diversion from the criminal justice system and useful contacts.

Franchisee start-up checklist ( Australia), 2011, 11p., [Booklet], Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Free, 02 9230 9133,
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=750832&nodeId=ba8467e17612d806f4d0930113188140
&fn=Franchisee%20startup%20checklist.pdf
This booklet explains the Franchising Code of Conduct and outlines a checklist of things to consider before purchasing a franchise business. It also discusses avenues available for dispute resolution under the Franchising Code and the role of the ACCC.

Going to a dispute resolution conference in the children's court: information for parents and carers (NSW), 2011, 6p., [Pamphlet], Department of Justice and Attorney General, Free, 02 9228 7777 or 1800 684 449, communications@agd.nsw.gov.au
http://www.courtwise.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/childrens_court/ll_cc.nsf/vwFiles/info_parents_carers.pdf/$file/info_parents_carers.pdf
This pamphlet is aimed at parents and carers. It explains what a dispute resolution conference is, what the process is, who should attend and how to prepare for one.

Going to an independent mediation referred by the children's court: information for parents and carers (NSW), 2011, 6p., [Pamphlet], Department of Justice and Attorney General, Free, 02 9228 7777 or 1800 684 449, communications@agd.nsw.gov.au
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/childrens_court/ll_cc.nsf/vwFiles/info_mediation_by_cc.pdf/$file/info_mediation_by_cc.pdf
This pamphlet is aimed at parents and carers. It explains what mediation is and provides information on who attends mediation, what happens at mediation and how to prepare for mediation.

Going to mediation: information for children and young people (NSW), 2011, 6p., [Pamphlet], Department of Justice and Attorney General, Free, 02 9228 7777 or 1800 684 449, communications@agd.nsw.gov.au
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/childrens_court/ll_cc.nsf/vwFiles/info_children.pdf/$file/info_children.pdf
This pamphlet is aimed at children and young people. It explains what mediation is and provides information on who attends mediation sessions, what happens at one and how to prepare to attend one.

How to get a work and development order (WDO) (NSW Australia), 2011, 4p., [Pamphlet], Illawarra Legal Centre, Free, 02 4276 1939,
http://yfoundations.org.au/files/News/WDO%20Brochure_A4.pdf
This brochure explains what a WDO is, who is eligible for one, the types of fines covered by a WDO and how to apply for one.

Human rights and discrimination (NSW), 2010, 2p., [Factsheet], Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre Inc, Free, 02 4422 9529,
http://www.shoalcoast.org.au/publications/12-human-rights-a-discimination.html
This factsheet explains what human rights are including human rights law in Australia, children's rights and discrimination. It also provides contact details for a number of relevant organisations that can provide further information.

New tenant checklist (NSW), 2011, [Web page], NSW Office of Fair Trading, Free, 13 32 20 / 1300 723 404,
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Tenants_and_home_owners/Renting_a_home/New_tenant_checklist.html
This checklist outlines what tenants should know before signing a lease including arrangements for repairs, paying upfront costs and moving in requirements. It also includes tips for problem-free renting.

Parenting and child support issues for flood victims (NSW), 2011, 3p., [Factsheet], Women's Legal Services NSW, Free, 02 9747 7700,
http://www.womenslegalnsw.asn.au/pdfs/WLSNSW-FL-flood-factsheet.pdf
This factsheet is for people under a parenting order or parenting plan who have been affected by the recent flooding. It provides information about family law parenting issues and child support, it explains legal rights and options and what to do if an order/plan cannot be obeyed. It also lists contact details of other organisations that can provide further information and assistance.

Rural landholder's guide to environmental law in New South Wales (NSW), 2011, 3rd ed., 108p., [Book], Environmental Defender's Office (NSW) Ltd, Free, 02 9262 6989, education@edo.org.au
http://www.edo.org.au/edonsw/site/pdf/pubs/rural_landholders_3rd_ed.pdf
This updated guide aims to increase understanding of the legal rights and obligations of a landowner with regard to the management of land in accordance with environmental and natural resource management law. Topics covered include vegetation, bushfire and water management, protected plants and animals, development consent, pollution, agricultural chemicals, crops and stock, mining and quarrying and heritage protection.

Sorting out your electricity, gas and water bills (NSW), 2011, 2p., [Factsheet], Energy and Water Ombudman NSW, Free,
http://www.ewon.com.au/ewon/assets/File/Publications/EWON_Factsheets/SortingOutYourElectricityGasAndWaterBills.pdf
This updated factsheet gives an overview of issues encountered when paying electricity, gas and water bills, including opening and closing accounts, security deposits, pensioner rebates, unpaid bills, connection and disconnection and payment plans.

Tenancy reforms 2011, [Web page], NSW Office of Fair Trading, Free, 13 32 20 / 1300 723 404,
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/About_us/News_and_events/Tenancy_reforms.html
This web page includes information on the new tenancy laws introduced on 31 January 2011. It includes information for tenants and landlords, new standard forms and video presentations on the new laws.

Veterans advocacy service (NSW), 2010, 6p., [Pamphlet], Legal Aid NSW, Free, 02 9219 5028, publications@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
http://lacextra.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/Publications/FileUpload/Doc/ImprintFile131.pdf
This pamphlet explains services provided to veterans, defence force personnel and their dependants including legal advice, assistance with completing forms and lodging appeals and representation at boards, tribunals and courts.

Why make a will? (NSW), 2011, 4p., [Pamphlet], Legal Aid NSW, Free, 02 9219 5028, publications@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
http://lacextra.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/Publications/FileUpload/Doc/ImprintFile698.pdf
This pamphlet for older people explains what a will is, appointing an executor, changing a will, challenges to a will, who can make a will and the costs involved. It also provides contact details for other organisations that can provide further information and assistance.

Your consumer rights: environmental claims ( Australia), 2011, 2p., [Factsheet], Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Free, 02 9230 9133,
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=808269&nodeId=06cf55664c677258de1abffd4e5641c9
&fn=Your%20consumer%20rights,%20environmental%20claims.pdf
This factsheet explains changes to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which came into effect on 1 January 2011. It explains what an environmental claim is, possible breaches of the Australian Consumer Law by businesses making environmental claims and the role of the ACCC regarding breaches of the Act.

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Plain Language Law is produced by Erika Murray and Abigail Gray, Law and Justice Foundation of NSW, (02) 8227-3200, with assistance from the Legal Information Access Centre (LIAC). To find NSW plain language legal resources in particular subject areas contact LIAC (02) 9273 1558 or check the web at http://www.liac.sl.nsw.gov.au or call LawAccess on 1300 888 529 or check their website at: http://www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au.

Cambodia parliament passes controversial anti-corruption bill

2011-02-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

[JURIST] The Cambodian parliament [official website] passed a controversial anti-corruption bill Wednesday meant to further transparency in government while opposition parties staged a walkout, saying the new law would stifle criticism and foster corruption. The law will create a national anti-corruption council to oversee investigators, but critics have said that the lack of independence from the government is troubling. Members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) [party website] and foreign NGOs criticized [Phnom Penh Post report] the law because it could potentially punish whistle blowers with prison terms, and does not require government officials and their spouses to disclose their assets. The UN mission in Cambodia [official website] released a statement [text] tentatively supporting the bill but calling on the government to allow more time for public debate.

Transparency International (TI) [advocacy website] has criticized Cambodian corruption, and the country is ranked [TI corruption index] near the top of the list of most corrupt countries in the world. Last year, the UN cut off funding for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia [official website], a court set up to prosecute Khmer Rouge officials, after it was accused of corruption [JURIST report] through a kick-back scheme. The UN and Cambodian officials later failed to reach an agreement on a system to monitor corruption [JURIST report] and the court had to rely on international donations [JURIST report] to make up for the shortfall.

anti-corruption law in Khmer is available here.

National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development of Cambodia

2010-09-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

The National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development (NP-SNDD) is the RGC’s agenda for the next 10 years in the comprehensive and in-depth governance reform process of the sub-national administrations, which will also impact on other national institutions. The formulation of NP-SNDD reflects and confirms the RGC’s political commitment to the vision, policies and strategies outlined in the D&D Strategic Framework and the government’s commitment to implementing the Organic Laws on Capital, Province, Municipality, District and Commune/Sangkat administrations.

The NP-SNDD has been formulated while the RGC is strengthening the roles and responsibilities of institutions at all levels towards achieving good governance, development and poverty reduction. To achieve these goals, great efforts by all national and sub-national levels are required, as well as effective cooperation between them. In this reform process, there is a need for equal opportunity for all citizens to participate in local development and to demand better and more comprehensive public services to meet citizen’s needs, leading to poverty reduction and focusing on the most vulnerable groups, particularly the indigenous peoples, women and children. In this respect, the RGC’s goals for sub-national democratic development are to:

Create a culture of local participatory democracy, accountable to the citizens;
Improve public services and infrastructures;
Bring about social and economic development;
Contribute to poverty reduction. Programme Areas

Program Areas

This document describes the goals, objectives and scope of the NP-SNDD implementation framework by platform (or phase) and sets out the activities planned under each programme area designed to achieve sub-national democratic development. It outlines five programme areas as following:

1. Sub-national Institutional Development : The directly and indirectly elected councils at all sub-national administrative levels are the primary means for program implementation. The establishments of those councils are not only for dialogue / forum purposes, and the D&D Framework and the Organic Laws expect those councils to achieve concrete results in improving the quality of local people’s lives, starting with the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable groups. The SNDD principles require that the elected councils at all sub-national levels represent their own communities, and are responsive and accountable to their local communities for their performance in carrying out their functions. To achieve this mission, sub-national councils shall receive the necessary authority and resources, including human, financial and physical resources, together with legal competency in order to make decisions serving the local communities’ interests.

Therefore, the creation of sub-national councils significantly modify the lines of accountability for the existing sub-national administrations. The Organic Laws intended for sub-national councils to grow as a strong local foundation and to have autonomy, but no sovereignty.

Responding to these changed requirements, sub-national councils shall have clear administrative structures, systems, and procedures in order to become strong local governance institutions, contributing towards poverty reduction and sustainable development across the country.

2. The Development of Strong Human Resource Management Systems: The elected sub-national councils are composed of members from different political parties, and those council members would not have adequate skills and professions to perform all tasks. Furthermore, when more functions and resources are transferred to sub-national levels, the elected council members could not undertake all tasks and manage all resources by themselves. Therefore, the councils shall have qualified, competent and experienced staff to undertake functions on behalf of the councils and to implement the council’s decisions. The D&D Strategic Framework and Organic Laws require that the councils have their own permanent personnel to fulfill the council’s tasks, who in turn shall be accountability to the respective council. The Organic Law calls for the establishment of a personnel framework at sub-national administrations through the development of separate statute for civil servants at sub-national level under the Law on Civil Servant’ Statute of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The development of this personnel framework is a process linked with the transfer of functions and resources. This process of transferring personnel to the sub-national councils is complex and must be implemented with care. The NP-SNDD document has called for steps, phases and key activities in transferring personnel, adequately developing human resource management and development systems which ensure that there is no increase in the overall number of the staff in the country that could impact on the government’s payroll costs.

3. The Transfer of Functions and Resources: The provision of public services, materials/means and basic infrastructures is a crucial component in the sub-national democratic development. Councils of all sub-national administrative levels shall assigned functions, together with adequate resources, in order for them to be able to provide public services, necessary materials and basic infrastructures to their local communities. The transfer of functions and resources shall carried out in a transparent, coordinated and consultative manner according to plans, phases and appropriate rationales; and with minimum disruption of RGC and DP’s on-going operations. Effective provision of the public services is closely linked with the transfer of authority, bringing the handling of key basic public services closer to the people. At the same time, the effective provision of public services requires that elected councils, and appointed public officials who would undertake the functions have appropriate skills, competency and commitment. Effective provision of public services shall also ensure that local citizens have the right to participate in the process of making the decisions concerning the services which impact on their daily livelihoods; have the right to monitor and evaluate the performance of the elected councils and appointed officials; and, be able to assess the quality of the provided services. Therefore, the transfer of responsibilities for providing key and basic public services to subnational administrations; people’s participation in public administrations; local council’s capacity in the decision-making process to respond to the local needs focusing on poverty reduction, is core to the process of the sub-national democratic development.

4. Sub-National Budget, Financial and Property Systems: The D&D Strategic Framework and Organic Laws demanded that councils at each sub-national administrative level have adequate financial and property resources in order to be able to carry out their functions and responsibilities for responding to local citizen’s needs. For the councils to manage the transferred finance and properties with the highest transparency and integrity as well as a high level of accountability to the people and to the Royal Government, the Organic Law provided for the development of the Law on Financial Regime and Property Management at sub-national level, which ensures that the council will formulate, approve and implement its budget, with proper financial accounting, management of property and with internal and external audits on the council’s budget and finance in accordance with rules, systems and procedures. This fourth program area also describes the council’s needs in terms of the development of the 5-year development plan and 3-year rolling investment program which define their council’s visions for own territory’s development. Activities of the fourth program area defined in each of the platforms supports the council’s decision-making authority on their own plans, finance, budget and property in the response to their respective local needs in accordance with the principles of local autonomy determined in the Organic Laws.

5. Support Institutions for D&D Reform Process: The sub-national administration reform process under the principles of democratic development through D&D will impact institutions at both national and sub-national levels. Therefore to ensure smooth operation of this reform, a strong mechanism is required to coordinate institutions at both national and sub-national levels, for the NP-SNDD implementation. The coordination among institutions at national level is carried out in the process of reviewing functions, resources and responsibilities of the national ministries and agencies for the transfer to appropriate sub-national council(s) of basic key functions and resources directly impacting on the daily livelihoods of the local communities. In this process, existing roles and responsibilities of national ministries and agencies which cover policy and strategy development, as well as all sectoral program implementation, will be changed to development of policy, strategy and national standards on the transferred functions. To coordinate this complex and in-depth reform, the Organic Law called for the establishment of a permanent inter-ministerial mechanism to be the arm of the RGC for the implementation of the Organic Law, namely the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development, abbreviated as NCDD. The NP-SNDD has determined the roles and responsibilities of NCDD to coordinate and oversee the implementation of the NP-SNDD through close cooperation with the Council for Administrative Reform (CAR), the PFM Reform Committee and other sectoral reform mechanisms on ensuring adequate staffing, capacity, financing and other resources according to each implementation phase.

In conclusion, democratic development does not have an end, but it embeds a process of gradual progress through policy development, program implementation and lesson learning, with program assessment and review leading to gradual improvement.

Detail program is here (in Khmer) (in English)

Policy & legal framework on the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights and its implementation in Cambodia

2010-08-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Background

The relationship between agriculture, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights is a contentious, on-going, issue of debate in several multilateral institutions. These include the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WI PO), the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties (CBD COP), and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

So far the government of Cambodia is a member of CBD and the government has developed a National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan since 2002. The strategy and actions has been implemented and enforced in order to preserve and develop the biodiversity in Cambodia. Furthermore, the government developed a number of laws and regulation to protect the intellectual property rights however there is no clear policy/strategy or law to protect the intellectual property rights in the framework of genetic resource.

The nature and terms under which genetic resources can be accessed have changed dramatically in recent years. The free flow and trade of genetic resources has been replaced by a wide range of national and international legal instruments that seek to regulate access, control and use of genetic biodiversity and to protect traditional knowledge. Of particular concern is the recent trend to extend intellectual property rights (patents and plant breeder's rights) to plant genetic resources. Recently, for instant, even there is an initial project to protect the patent rights of bio-rice for exporting to European country but a lot of issues are happened since there is not yet national policy to protect that issue.

The government of Cambodia did take any action concerning to the resource genetic which has been traditionally used and implemented by the local Cambodian people long time, for example, in agriculture sector. The conservation and development of genetic resources is crucial for the maintenance of key crops and the improvement of crop varieties and breeds and, ultimately, for food security. But the implementation of the strategy and action and other laws and policy related to protect intellectual property rights in genetic resource is still a question.

Genetic resources also play a fundamental role in many contexts. In recent years, NGOs have been arguing that the current operation of the international intellectual property system is not preventing bio-piracy, but instead is encouraging it. For example, they point to cases which excessively broad patents have been granted over genetic biodiversity. They are pressing to introduce mechanisms into the international intellectual property system to Cambodian to address these issues.

The council for Legal and Judicial Reform is a body to deal with the development of the policy and strategy of the government in the framework of law for the country in which action to develop a policy/law related to the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights to improve the intellectual property rights as a whole is a priority action of the government strategy in the framework of legal reform. Therefore it is time for Cambodia to consider on this issue.

The objective of the development of the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights is to make sure that all genetic resource will be used in the proper way included : (i) balancing the rights of breeders with the rights of local farmers in developing countries to save,' share, sell, and replant seed; (ii) equitable sharing of benefits between plant breeders and farmers to take account of the latter's contribution to innovations in plant breeding and plant patenting; (iii) the protection of genetic resources through measures which prevent the grant of patents over genetic resources; and (iv) the protection of the innovations of indigenous and other traditional communities and the recognition of their traditional knowledge.

Of course, technical support from different stakeholders, especially from international support like WIPO, WTO, CBD COP, and FAO is very important. The Council plan to develop such a very important policy for the government as soon as possible since now it is time for Cambodia to build up international commercial relationship and to make sure that their own genetic resource and traditional knowledge are ensured intellectual property rights.

To develop such a policy/strategy or law for this issue will is a deal and needs a lot of time and efforts to achieve. Therefore, this project should look at (1) assessment of the existing policy and legal framework on the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights and its implementation in Cambodia, (2) establish policy for genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights for Cambodian context, and (3) develop legal framework to protect intellectual property rights in genetic resource.

Concerning to the relevant policy/strategy and legal framework to support that area, please see t he list of the relevant of those policy and legal framework as followings:

International agreement:

National laws and regulations:

Enforcement (Customs & Borders Measures), Law, 2007, Law on Customs of The Kingdom of Cambodia dated 20 July 2007
Traditional Cultural Expressions (Cultural Heritage & Property), Law, 199 6
Law (Kram) of National Assembly dated 25 January 1996 on the Protection of Cultural Heritage
Intellectual Property (Shares & Value of Intellectual Property Rights, Commercial Enterprises), Law, 2005
Law of National Assembly of May 17, 2005 on Commercial Entreprise
Copyright (No. 2498), Regulation, 2003
The Copyright and Related Rights Regulation No. 2498 of September 27, 2003
Patents & Utility Models & Industrial Designs, Law, 2003
Law on Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs of January 22 , 2003, supplemented on June 29, 2006 by Prakas (Decree) No. 706 on Procedure granting Patent and Utility Model Certificates
Copyright, Law, 2003
Law on Copyright and Related Rights of National Assembly of January 21, 2003
Trademarks & Trade Names & Unfair Competition, Law, 2002
Law concerning Marks, Trade Names and Acts of Unfair Competition of the Kingdom of Cambodia by the National Assembly on February 7, 2002
Trademarks & Geographical Indications (Food Labels & Products Origins), Regulation, 2000
Prakas No. 1045 of|Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy|on Cambodian Standard CS 001-2000 related to labelling of food product
Enforcement (Border & Market, Quality & Safety of Products and Services), Law, 2000
Law on the Management of Quality and Safety of Products and Services of June 21, 2000
Other, Constitution, as amended 1999
The Constitution of September 21, 1993, as amended on March 6, 1999
Enforcement (Border & Market, Phamarceutical Products), Law, 1996
Law on the Management of Phamarceutical Products of May 9, 1996
Enforcement, criminal and criminal procedure code
Enforcement, civil and civil procedure code

However, starting from this context, a number of involved reports or research has been done so far as list below:

In this project of change, I will focus only the first project which is to assess the existing policy or legal framework on the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights and its implementation in Cambodia. To do that, a number of activities will need to be conducted. Therefore the strategy to achieve this is (1) prepare working group for the assessment, (2) collect all related documents, (3) analyze, (4) make report and recommendations.

NGOs Law and Governance

2010-07-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

NGO Law and Governance: A Resource Book

Today non-government organizations (NGOs) worldwide have budgets totaling billions of dollars with tens of millions of staff. But are laws and internal controls keeping pace with their size and power?

NGO Law and Governance answers a need in an area that has experienced enormous growth over the past 25 years. Interest in the legal aspects of NGOs has increased due to their greater participation in civil society and political life.

The author, from his practical knowledge in the field, has written a concise survey for the general reader of the main issues and principles that affect most internationally operating NGOs. Attention is also paid to the improvement of governance in local and development-focused NGOs, which still work primarily in their home countries.

This book will be of interest to members, managers and volunteers of big and small NGOs and also development practitioners and students of social change. It will be helpful to anyone seeking an understanding of the basic content of international and domestic laws and generally accepted governance principles impacting the operation of the civil society sector.

Click here to get a full book on NGOs Law and Governance

source www.adbi.org

Draft NGOs law will go to parliament soon

2010-07-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

NGO regulation: Draft law to drop within five months

TUESDAY, 27 JULY 2010 15:01 CHRISTY CHOI AND CHHAY CHANNYDA

NGO regulation
Adraft version of a controversial proposal for a law to regulate NGOs could be ready for public consultation by the end of the year, an Interior Ministry official said yesterday.

Mey Narath, deputy director of the Ministry of Interior’s department of political affairs, said a draft law for NGOs would be “finished in four to five months”, at which time a forum would be held to obtain comments from Cambodia’s NGOs. He said a final version of the law would likely not reach parliament until 2013.

At a meeting with civil society groups last Thursday, Mey Narath pledged his support to increase collaboration between the government and NGOs.
However, some groups fear an NGO law could be used to stifle organisations that are critical of the government.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, said the law may allow the government to hamper an NGO’s operations by placing restrictions on financing.

Hang Chhaya, executive director of the Khmer Institute for Democracy, also questioned the government’s motivations, but said the time had come to “move on and find a novel way to engage with the government”.

A number of critic has been done by different group civil society, for example,

NGO Law in Cambodia: top issue on government's agenda, the civil society in jeopardy? , has been criticized by Ka-Zet website.
Cambodia's proposed NGO law stirs suspicion and concern, by Thomson Reuter foundation
New Laws May Curb NGO Activity, by IPSNEWs
Is an NGO Law in Cambodia Justified? , by LICADHO
Briefing Note on CSO Law Issues , by The International Center for Civil Society Law , April 2005
NGO Law and Association News, by Cooperation Committee for Cambodia

source: www.phnompenhpost.com

To be confident

2010-07-25T23:19:00.001-07:00

ចង់បានជោគជ័យត្រូវមានទំនុកចិត្ត!

ផ្សាយក្នុងផ្នែក ជីវិតនិងសង្គម, សប្បាយ ដោយ MENGKIANG កាលពី 26 JUL 2010

ក្នុងទំព័រនេះសប្បាយចង់សំណេះសំណាលជាមួយមិត្តយុវវ័យបន្តិចពីបញ្ហាទំនុកចិត្តចំពោះខ្លួនឯង។
មិត្តយុវវ័យប្រាកដជាធ្លាប់ឆ្លងកាត់បទពិសោធន៍ជីវិតច្រើនមកហើយក្នុងរយៈពេលកន្លងមកនេះ ជីវិតគ្រួសារ ទំនាក់ទំនងនឹងសាច់ញាតិ មិត្តភ័ក្ដិ ជីវិតសិក្សា ឬ អាចមានបញ្ហាស្នេហាក៏ថាបាន។
សប្បាយចង់ទាញអារម្មណ៍យុវវ័យមកក្នុងទំព័រនេះដើម្បីស្វែងយល់ពីចំណេះដឹងមួយចំនួនដែលមានប្រយោជន៍យ៉ាងសំខាន់ ហើយមានមនុស្សជាច្រើនមិនដឹងថានេះជាផ្នែកមួយនៃកត្តាដែលនាំយើងទៅរកជោគជ័យលើគ្រប់បញ្ហាគឺ “ទំនុកចិត្តលើខ្លួន” ដូច្នេះមិនថាយុវវ័យស្ថិតនៅក្នុងការប្រឈមនឹងបញ្ហាណាមួយដែលបានរៀបរាប់មកខាងលើនេះ ឬមានរឿងអ្វីផ្សេងទៀតនោះទេ អ្វីដែលសំខាន់យុវវ័យត្រូវមានទំនុកចិត្តចំពោះខ្លួនឯងជាមុនសិន។
ជាការពិតណាស់ក្នុងស្ថានភាពលំបាកមនុស្សអាចនឹងបាត់បង់ទំនុកចិត្ត ដូច្នេះដើម្បីអោយក្លាយទៅជាមនុស្សម្នាក់ដែលមានទំនុកចិត្តចំពោះខ្លួនឯងតើយុវវ័យត្រូវធ្វើយ៉ាងណា?
ខាងក្រោមនេះសប្បាយបានដកស្រង់យ៉ាងសង្ខេបពីគន្លឹះខ្លះៗដែលនឹងជួយអោយយុវវ័យកសាងទំនុកចិត្តសម្រាប់ខ្លួនឯង!
-ទទួលស្គាល់ថាខ្លួនឯងជាអ្នកណា ហើយបញ្ជាក់ពីតម្លៃរបស់ខ្លួន។
-ឈប់ប្រៀបធៀបខ្លួនឯងទៅនឹងអ្នកដទៃពីចំណុចដែលអ្នកមានហើយគេគ្មាន គេមានតែអ្នកគ្មាន។
-ត្រូវជឿជាក់លើអ្វីដែលអ្នកនិយាយនិងធ្វើ។
-និយាយយឺតៗ អោយច្បាស់ ម៉ត់ចត់ និង សុភាព។
-ចេះស្ដាប់អ្នកដទៃនឹងអោយតម្លៃទស្សនៈរបស់គេ។
-ចេះទទួលកំហុសខ្លួនឯង ហើយសុំទោសពីទង្វើដែលអ្នកធ្វើខុស។
-ត្រូវមានហេតុផលចំពោះរាល់ប្រធានបទដែលអ្នកចង់និយាយជាមួយអ្នកផ្សេង។
-កុំធ្វើជាចេះចំពោះអ្វីដែលអ្នកមិនចេះ។
-កុំព្យាយាមចាប់ថ្នាក់អ្នកដទៃដើម្បីបញ្ជាក់ថាគេទន់ខ្សោយ ឬអន់ជាងខ្លួន។
-កុំខ្លាចនឹងបង្ហាញបីទស្សនៈរបស់ខ្លួន។
-មុននឹងនិយាយ ឬ ធ្វើត្រូវគិតយ៉ាងហោចណាស់អោយបានពីរដង។
-ត្រូវចងចាំថាក្នុងឆាកជីវិតរបស់មនុស្សគ្មាននរណាម្នាក់ចេះគ្រប់យ៉ាងនោះទេ ហើយការដែលត្រូវរៀនអ្វីដែលថ្មីគ្មានអ្វីខុសឆ្គងទេទោះជាត្រូវរៀនពីមនុស្សដែលមានវ័យក្មេងជាង មានចំណេះដឹងទូទៅទាបជាងក៏ដោយ។
-នៅពេលមាននរណានិយាយពីខ្លួនយើង ហើយនោះគឺជារឿងខុស យើងត្រូវតវ៉ាដើម្បីបញ្ជាក់ថានោះគីជារឿងមិនពិត។
-មិនត្រូវមានទំនុកចិត្តជ្រុលពេកទេ ការមានទំនុកចិត្តជ្រុលពេកអាចមានផលអាក្រក់ដូចការខ្វះទំនុកចិត្តដែរ។
សប្បាយៈ យុវវ័យចង់បានអ្វី? ចង់ធ្វើអ្វី? ចង់សម្រេចអ្វី? យុវវ័យគួរសម្រេចកិច្ចការទីមួយសិន គឺត្រូវសាងទំនុកចិត្តអោយខ្លួនឯង។ ដូចប្អូនៗដែលត្រូវប្រឡងទុតិយភូមិនៅឆ្នាំនេះត្រូវមានទំនុកចិត្តថាប្អូននឹងប្រឡងជាប់៕
បកប្រែៈ ស្រ៊ុន ម៉េងគាង

Source: www.sabay.com.kh

Cambodia governance Indicator Scorecard

2010-07-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Global Integrity Report

Cambodia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Overall Score: 46 (+/- 0.94) - Very Weak



Category I	Civil Society, Public Information and Media	41	Very Weak
I-1	Civil Society Organizations	58	Very Weak
I-2	Media	43	Very Weak
I-3	Public Access to Information	22	Very Weak

Category II	Elections	55	Very Weak
II-1	Voting & Citizen Participation	86	Strong
II-2	Election Integrity	75	Moderate
II-3	Political Financing	5	Very Weak

Category III	Government Accountability	31	Very Weak
III-1	Executive Accountability	42	Very Weak
III-2	Legislative Accountability	13	Very Weak
III-3	Judicial Accountability	17	Very Weak
III-4	Budget Processes	52	Very Weak

Category IV	Administration and Civil Service	36	Very Weak
IV-1	Civil Service Regulations	30	Very Weak
IV-2	Whistle-blowing Measures	48	Very Weak
IV-3	Procurement	44	Very Weak
IV-4	Privatization	24	Very Weak

Category V	Oversight and Regulation	48	Very Weak
V-1	National Ombudsman	0	Very Weak
V-2	Supreme Audit Institution	62	Weak
V-3	Taxes and Customs	71	Moderate
V-4	State-Owned Enterprises	48	Very Weak
V-5	Business Licensing and Regulation	60	Weak

Category VI	Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law	63	Weak
VI-1	Anti-Corruption Law	89	Strong
VI-2	Anti-Corruption Agency	45	Very Weak
VI-3	Rule of Law	64	Weak
VI-4	Law Enforcement	52	Very Weak

POC - New plan for civil servant salary top-up

2010-07-22T01:31:00.000-07:00

New plan for civil servant salary top-up

THURSDAY, 22 JULY 2010 15:03 IRWIN LOY

THE government has approved a revamped compensation scheme for civil servants, though observers say it remains unclear how quickly authorities and NGOs will be able to implement it.

The Priority Operating Costs scheme was approved July 12 as a replacement for a previous salary supplement programme that was abruptly cancelled last year.

Paul Pidou, deputy secretary general of the Council for Administrative Reform, confirmed that Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the sub-decree, which will be implemented retroactive to July 1. CAR officials were not available for comment yesterday.

A copy of the sub-decree obtained by the Post yesterday shows the new scheme will be more complex than the programme it is replacing. Under the POC scheme, development groups will be required to obtain permission to supplement civil servant salaries for each individual programme.

The sub-decree also outlines two broad levels of pay scales: “national” and “sub-national/public service delivery” .

Jeroen Stol, country director for Handicap International Belgium, said the new definitions could help equalise payments offered by NGOs under the old scheme.

“In the past, different organisations paid different incentives for the same types of jobs, which caused ... jealousy in some cases,” he said.

However, many details are still unclear, he added, including the payment levels in which civil servants will be grouped.

Authorities will need to add a new management layer to administer the scheme, according to its implementation guidelines. Each POC scheme will require its own director and must be approved by the relevan ministry, the development partner, the CAR and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Sharon Wilkinson, country director for Care Cambodia, said her NGO still has not received any official word about the new scheme. “I still do not feel there’s sufficient information available for us to implement this within the timeframe designated,” she said.

Sub-decree on the establishment and implementation of the Priority Operating Cost (POC) within the framework of development cooperation in Khmer /in English

Review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia

2010-07-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia

The review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia is an attempt to understand the underlying factors inhibited the promotion of orderly labour migration flow from Cambodia to Thailand. The study points to the weaknesses in the institution entrusted to manage labour migration, the legal framework governed the migration process, the labour migration policy, and the bilateral cooperation between the labour sending and the receiving countries. These are the main factors contributing to the growing irregular cross-border labour migration. The long porous border and the cultural affinity between people of the two neighboring countries make it even difficult for the States to have absolute control over the movement of national persons. The study offers solutions for better management of labour migration. These are the formulation of clear migration policy and legal framework, streamlining the migration administration, creation of specialized organization, reduction cost of migration, raising awareness on legal channel for migration, improvement in inter-ministerial coordination, and negotiation with labour receiving country to establish standard employment contract and to protect the rights of migrant workers.

Full document : Review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia

Social Justice – in Inter-Religious Perspective, Publications

2010-07-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

Social Justice – in Inter-Religious Perspective

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Occasional Paper on Democratic Development Vol. 3

This volume of the Occasional Papers on Democratic Development looks at the term “social justice” from the perspectives of Buddhist, Muslim and Christian faiths. We have asked outstanding proponents of the Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant religious groups in Cambodia to elaborate on the term “social justice”. In addition, a Catholic German parliamentarian has added a European point of view. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has a mandate to promote democratic political institutions and policies. Why should we address a concept from religious perspectives rather than from a primarily political one? The answer is easy. We would like to emphasise that there is certainly no wish to interfere in the affairs of any religious community in Cambodia. Nor does this volume deal with the relationship between the state and religious organizations as institutions, independent of each other. Our intention here is to deal with issues raised by the links between religion and politics. “Religion and politics” is concerned with two spheres of activity in the life of the same person. Citizens who belong to religious groups are also members of secular society. This dual association generates a close relationship between the religious and the secular spheres. The relationship we intend to look into is the influence of religious belief on secular political preference and decision-making. Religious beliefs have moral, social and political implications. It is inevitable for people of faith to express these through their activities as citizens in the political order. Religious beliefs have secular political validity. As they are thought by their exponents to possess high religious authority, politicians and the state are well advised to take account of these convictions when formulating policies. The concept of social justice is paramount in the policies of a state. During rapid economic growth in Cambodia the gap between rich and poor has widened, as it has in many other countries. How far this trend is to be accepted will influence the policies of the state. In that regard this volume is political in nature. I express my appreciation to all the contributing authors. Heng Monychenda, Director of the independent NGO Buddhism for Development (BfD) deserves particular gratitude for having edited this volume and for having taken great care that difficult religious and philosophical terms were appropriately translated. The KAF has had the great privilege to work with Heng Monychenda for more than two decades. We have always agreed that moral, ethical and religious values are vital for secular economic and political decision-making. Mr. Yi Thon, Secretary General of the Cambodian Inter Religious Council was of great help in organizing a conference in Phnom Penh in August 2007 during which drafts of the papers compiled were presented and discussed. Wolfgang Meyer Country Representative Konrad Adenauer Foundation

small contribution for reform

2010-06-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

reform is a sensitive word for most of the developing country even for other developed country in the world who want to make their country more and more developed and make sure that people is living in the happiness and good welfare.

when we say the word "Change", in principle, there are two main options which are (1) Revolution and (2) Evolution. The first concept is very extreme option which can be good and bad in the short time. our society, Cambodia, had been applied so many decades already sine the year's 60. the first one is that we applied the concept to change our society from the Constitutional Monarchy to Republic which made a lot of issues happened in that time. The the second is we change from republic to extreme communism which no one had been applied for their country. they want to change everything to a pure communism which abolished all capitalism concept and other related issue on market. there was no market, no currency, no social class, ... they very much applied the three main concepts of Communism extremely. the three concepts of the extreme communism are EQUALITY, COLLECTIVE PROPERTY, and PLAN MARKET.

the last revolution of social system in Cambodia was happened in 1993 when Cambodia adopted immediately from the communism system to real democratic system which adopted from, mostly, western and USA style where it was so far from the social system in Cambodia adapted in communism system last time. actually there are a lot of issues has been find out from many research and studies from that changing. For example, understanding of concept of human rights and individual rights where most of people (ordinary people) think that they have all rights to do any thing without caring to other rights. this is a big issue since then the country become more and more misunderstanding among other people. anyway, this lesson, we should learn and make it more improved.

for me i thing that "EVOLUTION" concept is more and more adaptable to Cambodian society or other society since we need to reform from step by step in order to change social system of one country. however the reform or evolution should be taken more and more high consideration by all stakeholders, especially, decision makers. some initial idea from my mine is that:

develop a framework or policy of the reform of all sector for the whole country. the word "State Architecture" is more and more used by many developed country to develop their country policy or framework for the whole reform process on how the country will be moved to and which direction should be and what system that one country should be adapted. the idea is simple since, for example, before we construct house we need to design whole plan for the house - what kind of house do we need (western or local style), how many room, how big, and so on so for...
integrated plan and integrated financial plan for common implementation. the management term "Program Based Approach" is need to be considered with highly political commitment from all stakeholders (government and donor, government and private, government civil society, donor and civil society and all stakeholders is interact together).
clear function or roles of the implementation

Short Internship on Intellectual Property Rights in Sweden

2010-05-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

I am now in the Malmo in Sweden where i am attending a short course and internship program of the Intellectual Property Rights and Genetic Resource framework. This internship training will take for three weeks with comprising some lectures from professional lecturers who involved in the Intellectual Property Rights in Sweden, Germany, EU, Denmark and other people from WIPO. UPOV, CBD, ABS and so on.

Actually there are around 23 interns from different group in Intellectual Property rights. The are from different continent of Africa, Latin America, Former Soviet Union, Asia and Europe. Actually, the internship was taken place for around one week already and i found out that it was so interesting to gain more now knowledge and experiences.

The second week i will be moved to Stockholm to see more how the Swedish intellectual property rights manage and implement. i do hope that i will gain more experiences on that issues.

For last week i will come back again Malmo and spend the whole week for getting some presentations from other intern officers from around the world.

Of course the weather is cold here. Today is around 4 oC.

Cambodia law

2010-04-18T01:05:00.000-07:00

Actually in Cambodia so far, access to law and regulation is still a challenge for all interested people in Cambodia who want to look for law and regulations enacted by the parliament and government of Cambodia. according to the constitution of the kingdom of Cambodia,it said clearly that law and regulations can be enforced even there is disseminated through the official gazette. however, so far the official gazette is published weekly but the content and the number of the laws and regulations published in the official gazette by the general Department of official gazette are limited. Most of the content in weekly issue focusing more on promotion and appointment act rather than laws and regulations.

during this few years, a number of initiative to publish on time and full content of law and regulation has been introduced but there is no single database on law and regulation of Cambodia has been hosting.

in my blog there are more than 100 laws and regulations of Cambodia that i has compiled and upload in my blog. some file is from other website source of Cambodia. i would like to thanks all other source that hosted some law and regulation.

the way i do for my blog is trying to compile all existing law and regulation from other website and source in a single database and some other laws that are not in the website source, i uploaded them.

i do believe that my blog is still missing many things and need more idea and construction initiative for better disseminating law and regulation of Cambodia. so far i just take some free time at night to update my blog, especially, Cambodia law.

all comments and suggestions are very much welcomed.

Stress will kill you!

2010-04-11T07:42:00.002-07:00

It is a good chance for us to have a beautiful time and happiness together with family and friends. I of course think that to get a good time together is some time difficult since we are all busy with many thing around us for getting some thing for our life and our family. Most of people around us is so busy to find money and fit family. Some time we don't have time to enjoy what we get from our efforts. the most important thing most people tries their best to get money for their life and there is no time to relax.

some scholar they said that most illness is come from the stress and concerned problem in the daily life. As the world is developed more and more then human being is challenged more and more as well. They try very hard to deal with many problem in the daily life to fight against those challenges in order to have a good life or superb life. However they don''t think the effect of the working hard without taking relax. Some time we don't know what is life? what is the purpose of life? it is only to get a lot of money with beautiful house, luxury car or titling as excellency?

For me happiness life is very difficult to define and we need to consider to many aspects in the society whether we should only live in normal people or challenged people. Actually according to my understanding, actually there are three main kinds of human being which are:

Normal human being who want to have a normal life and don't challenge against any thing. they just try to live in peace and happiness with a minimum living life
more than normal but not so challenged people. some time they want to be the best some time they relax and some time they don't care.
most challenged people where they want to be the best and try their best to deal and get some thing in their life. they don't care they just want to challenge and get the best in the society.

whatever you like it is up to you. however i think life is not so long since each can't reach 30,000 days. everybody will stay in the globe only those days. so we should have a good life with happiness and relaxation.

I just red one book "leaving stress will getting happiness" by Dale Carnegie and it has been translated by Mr. Un Tim in Khmer. it is a good book said about how to deal with stress and making our mind peace and happiness. Actually there are three theories to deal with stress which are

live one day for one day. don't think to the past or future and try to deal only the day that it is.
if there is stress or problem comes, please do (1) to think that what is the biggest effect of the problem? (2) then try to accept it. it is not the end of the world; and (3) try to write down what are the solution that you should deal with then try to deal with the problems according to your choice
remember that stress can destroy our life

if you want to see more you can find this book. hope you can release some stress.

Japan ODA Support

2010-04-11T07:42:00.001-07:00

Finding support for implementing some project or program to develop our Cambodian country is not so difficult since there are many channels that we can access to get the support. Actually according to the statistic of Cooperation Development for Cambodia (CDC) shown that there are many development partners who has been assisting Cambodia in all sector of the government. Actually they provided many opportunities to all implementing agencies, including government, civil society organizations and other interesting agencies to make proposal for the support.

ODA funding or supporting from Japan government is one good example. They provide a clear information every year to all interesting government agencies to apply for ODA support from Japanese government. They provided many scheme such as Technical Cooperation (TCP), Long/short term expert, capacity building, and other financial support for interesting agencies to apply for.

CDC is a good place to ask for information for the application or even we can contact directly to Jica office here in Cambodia.

Study Tour in South Korea: Ombudsman System

2010-04-11T07:41:00.001-07:00

It was a good study tour to Republic of Korea. I had a very nice trip to Seoul in Korea for study tour on the ombudsman system. The study tour has been organized from 26 to 31 July 2009 to study on the ombudsman system in Korea where the system has been set up since 1994 with a good reputation. The participants are coming from different government institutions which are a secretary of state of the Office of the Council of Minister, a secretary of state of the Ministry of Interior, a permanent member of the Anti-Corruption Unit, a deputy chairman of the Cambodian human rights committee, a secretary general of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, two secretaries General of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform, director general of administration of the ministry of justice, GTZ consultant and I. The study tour got a lot of information and experiences from the Koran government system, especially the ombudsman system which has been established since 1994.

Actually the delegation has been visited many place of the Korean government institutions, including the Korean civil society organizations. The government institution where the delegation has been visited are Korean national human rights commission, anti-corruption and civil rights commission, Seoul's audit ombudsman, and ministry of public administration and security. The study tour provided a lot of lesson learned which are:

Most of the similar government institutions has been integrated together from 3 or 4 institutions into one institution in order to reduce the expense of the government

They has used high tech in improving the public services delivery with faster and easier to access by internet

the coordination between each government institutions is good and effective

the information of each government institution is well prepared in both Korean and English

each government officer has a specialized skill in their working field

all institution focuses very much on the well and closed public services delivery to the citizens

effective mechanism to combat against corruption from the local to national level (Seoul's Audit Ombudsman and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission…)

strong civil society organization to watch and monitor the performance of the government

Development Partners in Legal and Judicial Reform Sector

2010-04-11T07:40:00.001-07:00

Executive Summary

The Legal and Judicial Reform Strategy is a priority reform program of the fourth mandate of the government. The reform strategy was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2003 and the development of its action plan took around two years to finalize by the Council of Ministers with full participation from all stakeholders in government agencies, DPs (DPs) and civil society organizations.Presently many of the 97 priority actions in the reform strategy have been actively supported and implemented by DPs and government implementing agencies. However, there is no single, clear information or report on activities supported by the DPs in the legal and judicial reform sector. As a result some support from DPs could be duplicated.

Therefore it is important to grasp the whole picture of who is doing what in this sector to avoid overlapping, to see the gap between the plan and implementation, and to maximize the resources and inputs from DPs. To achieve this CLJR and all members of the TWG-LJR decided to summarize the activities/projects taking place and to collate them in a DP activity report for the sector. The report will provide a single point of information for all stakeholders, in particular DPs, to map out their activities and plan for implementation of the sector reform program.

The report focuses upon only the activities of the DPs supporting the legal and judicial reform sector and does not cover related sector funding information.

Sixteen half hour meetings and interviews were organized with DPs, being AusAID, DANIDA, USAID, EWMI, GTZ ARDP, GTZ PWR, GTZ LMAP, World Bank, CCJAPIII, EU/EC, ILO, France Cooperation, UNICEF, JICA, Labor Arbitration Foundation, and ILO – component indigenous people promotion. Furthermore the report has been reviewed and commented upon by the Project Management Unit of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform. To validate the report information, the first draft of the report was presented in the meeting of Technical Working Group for Legal and Judicial Reform (TWG-LJR) on the 20^thof February 2009 for reviewing and receiving comments and feedback for the final report (see annex 2 on the presentation slide of the first report). Furthermore, the draft of report was sent to all 20 DPs for final review and comments.

The report focuses upon the information of the projects/programs that DPs (DPs) have supported and implemented in 2008 within the framework of the legal and judicial reform program.

The report will then divide into four main chapters. Firstly, the current progress of DPs activities and other implementing agencies activities in the legal and judicial reform strategy. Secondly, brief information of the structure of coordination mechanism for implementation. Thirdly, the report will examine the gap between planned and actual progress. Lastly, there is a summary and recommendations.

Findings

The assessment of the DP activities supporting legal and judicial reform is incomplete since the report focused only on the activities of the DPs in the LJR sector. The report should identify more information on the funding of the DPs in the reform. The implications on government implementing agencies from activity implementation and completion should also be assessed in order to ensure the successful implementation of the reform.

DPs played a very important role in supporting and implementing 70 LJR priority actions from the 97 priority actions in the PAILJRS.

12 priority actions have been implemented by RGC agencies without any DP support

Twenty DPs actively contributed to the legal and judicial sector reform. Six of these (USAID - 20 activities, JICA - 19 activities, France and Ausaid - 18 activities, GTZ - 15 activities, and DANIDA - 14 activities [see table 1 and annex 3 and 4]) are key DPs who have supported many activities in the legal and judicial sector. The DPs have provided both technical and financial support to the legal and judicial reform program.

202 activities have been supported by 20 DPs in the legal and judicial sector reform

Strategic Objective 1 has received much support from DPs with 70 activities supported by 18 DPs

Fifteen priority actions are yet to be implemented

There are nineteen implemented projects/programs which require further review

Sixty-three implementing projects/programs need further support

Most of the project/programs implemented in the legal and judicial sector are unaligned with the Plan of Action for Implementing Legal and Judicial Reform Strategy adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2005. Most activities have been implemented according to separate institutional frameworks. Recently the number of aligned projects has increased.

Many key DPs, for example, JICA, USAID, AusAID through CCJAPIII, DANIDA, and UNDP have started to align their programs with the PAILJRS of the government.

More than 300 million US dollars has been provided to support the sector reform

Major Challenges

Effective coordination and cooperation

Ownership

Capable human resources

Concrete Project/Program TORs

Systematic review and evaluation

Alignment of the program with government reform program

Effective monitoring and reporting

Recommendations

An effective mechanism should be systematically used and strengthened in order to enhance the coordination and facilitation of the implementation of the legal and judicial sector reform. The TWG-LJR, which has the General Secretariat of the Council for Legal and Judicial Reform as a secretariat, is a good place for both government and DPs to build their relationship in order to assist the legal and judicial reform process. The sub-group mechanism of the TWG-LJR allows for concerns on specific issues to be raised for discussion and clarification and this needs to be utilized.

The culture of information sharing be promoted and mechanisms strengthened in order to improve the facilitation and coordination of the implementation of the legal and judicial reform sector. This should include strengthening the capacity of RGC agencies to monitor and report on activities and policy implementation.

Increased human resource capacity development for government officers to increase RGC ownership of reform activities. Human resource deficiency is a key challenge of the reform program. Both government and DPs should work together to develop more capable human resources. DPs need to play a constructive role in addressing this problem rather than only criticizing the government for its human resource capacity constraints.

Program alignment with government legal and judicial reform program should be more increased and strengthened. This will avoid duplication of activities in the reform as well as ensure that activities are directly supporting the policy of the government. This alignment is something both government and DPs agreed upon in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action.

The Council for the Legal and Judicial Reform should consider the systematic review, monitoring and evaluation of the PAILJRto ensure the process of implementation of the reform is contributing to attaining the common goal of establishing a stable and credible legal and judicial sector. This will also identify incidents of conflict, full implementation failure or blockages in the reform, from both RGC and DPs, so they may be dealt with to ensure mutual accountability for past actions so that lessons for the future may be learnt.

Short, Measurable, Accuracy, Realistic, and Timetable (SMART)principle for developing the priority actions of the legal and judicial reform should be applied in order to make all action plans clearer in scope and to ensure clear indicators are developed so that implementing agencies and DPs can better manage for results. The systematic implementation of the IMS of the legal and judicial reform program should be undertaken and active cooperation from sector implementing agencies should be improved. A systematic assessment of DP support, including funding, in the Legal and Judicial Reform should be conducted.

More support from DPs which aligns with the government reform program (PAILJRS) is needed to achieve the common goal of the Legal and Judicial Reform

Full Report is her!

Sectoral Policy and Strategy

2010-04-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

STRATEGY

STUDY/RESEARCH

National Strategy

2010-04-11T07:31:00.000-07:00

GOVERNMENT STARTEGY

Rectangular Strategy (Eng.)
national strategic development plan 2006-2010 (Eng.)
Harmonization, Alignment and Results (H-A-R) Action Plan (Eng.)
Strategic Framework for Development Cooperation Management (Eng.)
Socio-Economic Development Priority (Eng.)
Building Partnership for Development an update (Eng.)
Cambodia Millennium Development Goals (CMDG's) (Eng.)
Public Investment Program (PIP) (Eng.)

RELATED STUDY

Decentralization and Deconcentration Reform

2010-04-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Strategy/Policy/Manual

Study/Research

Public Administration Reform

2010-04-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

STRATEGY:

Governance Action Plan II (Eng.)
Policy on Public Service Delivery (Eng.)
Draft of Public Administration Reform (Eng.)

Guideline/Manual

Civil servant handbook in English

STUDY/REPORT

Legal and Judicial Reform

2010-04-11T07:17:00.000-07:00

STRATEGY:

STUDY/RESEARCH:

Royal Decree

2009-07-02T06:42:00.001-07:00

Royal decrees (Reach Kret):

A Royal decree is issued by the King in the exercise of his constitutional powers. A Royal decree must be in strict conformity with the Constitution.

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2008

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2007

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royal decree

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2006

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ព្រះរាជក្រឹត្យស្ដីពី សភាមុខរបរ និងមីក្រូសហគ្រាសកម្ពុជា

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2005

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ព្រះរាជក្រឹត្យ ស្ដីពី ការបង្កើតគណៈទន្ដពេទ្យកម្ពុជា

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2004

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royal decree

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2003

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ព្រះរាជក្រឹត្យ ស្ដីពីការធ្វើសមាហរណកម្មទៅក្នុងឋានន្ដរស័ក្ដិមន្ដ្រីសុខាភិបាលជាន់ខ្ពស់ដើមខ្សែពិសេស

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2002

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royal decree

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2001

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royal decree

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2000

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royal decree

1999

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royal decree

1993-1998

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Cambodian law​​​​​​​​ ច្បាប់កម្ពុជា

commercial court in Cambodia?

some useful link on law and justice

Cambodia parliament passes controversial anti-corruption bill

National Program for Sub-National Democratic Development of Cambodia

Policy & legal framework on the genetic resource linked to intellectual property rights and its implementation in Cambodia

NGOs Law and Governance

Draft NGOs law will go to parliament soon

NGO regulation: Draft law to drop within five months

Is an NGO Law in Cambodia Justified? , by LICADHO

To be confident

ចង់បានជោគជ័យត្រូវមានទំនុកចិត្ត!

Cambodia governance Indicator Scorecard

POC - New plan for civil servant salary top-up

New plan for civil servant salary top-up

Review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia

Review of labour migration management, policies and legal framework in Cambodia

Social Justice – in Inter-Religious Perspective, Publications

Social Justice – in Inter-Religious Perspective

small contribution for reform

Short Internship on Intellectual Property Rights in Sweden

Cambodia law

Stress will kill you!

Japan ODA Support

Study Tour in South Korea: Ombudsman System

Development Partners in Legal and Judicial Reform Sector

Executive Summary

Sectoral Policy and Strategy

National Strategy

Decentralization and Deconcentration Reform

Public Administration Reform

Legal and Judicial Reform

Royal Decree

Cambodian law ច្បាប់កម្ពុជា