This website "Cambodian Law" is a small contribution of the access to laws and regulations of Cambodia and hope it can help interested people getting more understanding of the existing laws and regulations, including policy and strategy of the government of Cambodia. most of the information is refer to the link of other website. I would like to sincerely thank for all valuable website where i linked to for allow me to do so for Cambodian people and other interested people.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Happy New Year 2009!!!

Gather Around...



















Let's gather around...
the Christmas tree where love and hope abounds and share the joy of the Christmasstide and new year 2009.

Gather around...
years, gather around. Let's hang the holly and mistletoe and spread yuletide cheer wherever we go.

Let's sing new year songs beneath the falling snow. Gather around... come, gather around.

Let's dream of Santa's Christmas ride and look on the new year with hope and pride.

Let's share the goodwill that Christmas brings and rejoice the love sent on angels'wings.

Gather around... please, gather around.



from Dara

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

updated human rights documents and short training

New documents added:

* A Human Rights Approach to Development: Primer for Development Workers
by Amparo Tomas (UNDP, 2005). Language(s): English. guide, development workers, human rights-based approach (HRBA) to programming, right to development, sustainable development.
URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4817&category_id=44&category_type=3 * Evaluation of Human Rights Courses 1995-1999

by Anette Faye Jacobsen (Copenhagen: The Danish Centre for Human Rights, 2000). Language(s): English. Keywords: evaluation, training of professional groups, national human rights institutions, research & evaluation, Denmark.
URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4818&category_id=4&category_type=3

* Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel by Hans Born and Ian Leigh (Warsaw: OSCE/ODIHR and DCIF, 2007). Language(s): English. Keywords: handbook, reference, armed forces, training of professional groups, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4733&category_id=8&category_type=3 * Human Rights and Business Learning Tool (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, The Global Compact, United Nations System Staff College, 2008).
Language(s): English. Keywords: on-line course, companies, employers, corporate social responsibility, spheres of influence, The Global Compact, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4819&category_id=42&category_type=3

* Human Rights Training for Adults: What Twenty-six Evaluation Studies Say About Design, Implementation and Follow-Up by Katharine Teleki (Cambridge: HREA, 2007). Language(s): English. Keywords: good practices, lessons learned, research study, NGO staff, trainers, non-formal education, pre-service training, training of professional groups, adult education, evaluation, human rights education, research & evaluation, Canada, Costa Rica, Georgia, India, Italy, Malta, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Peru, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, USA, Vietnam. URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4822&category_id=4&category_type=3

* Learning to live together. Design, monitoring and evaluation of education for life skills, citizenship, peace and human rights by Margaret Sinclair in collaboration with Lynn Davies, Anna Obura and Felisa Tibbitts (Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), 2008). Language(s): English. Keywords: guide, policy makers, school administrators, formal education, primary school, secondary school, citizenship education, curriculum development, peace education, text development, tolerance education, human rights education, peace, research & evaluation, UNESCO. URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4821&category_id=2&category_type=3

* Review of Human Rights Education and Training by J.Reilly and U.Niens (Ulster: UNESCO Centre/School of Education/University of Ulster, 2005). Language(s): English. Keywords: research study, formal education, higher education, training of professional groups, human rights education, national human rights institutions, Northern Ireland. URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4744&category_id=4&category_type=3

* Rights in practice - assessing the impact of rights-based training in Uganda by Pamela Ashanut Okille (London/New York: Zed Books, 2005). Language(s): English. Keywords: evaluation, human rights-based approach (HRBA) to programming, research & evaluation, right to development, Uganda. URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4816&category_id=4&category_type=3

* Rights Respect and Responsibility. Report on the Hampshire County Initiative by Katherine Covell & R. Brian Howe (Children’s Rights Centre/Cape Breton University, 2007). Language(s): English. Keywords: evaluation, report, formal education, primary school, secondary school, human rights education, research & evaluation, United Kingdom. URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=104&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4715&category_id=4&category_type=3 ## CALENDAR: http://www.hrea.org/erc/Calendar ## New courses added:

* 9th Human Rights Summer School Date: 18-30 December 2008 Level: graduate Focus: A two-week intensive residential training workshop on human rights and advocacy skills for advanced law students. Location: Dhaka (Bangladesh) Deadline of application: - Organisation: Empowerment through Law of the Common People (ELCOP) URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4814&month=12&year=2008

* Human Rights for Local Government Date: 16 October 2008 Level: professional Focus: From 1 January 2008, the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities requires organisations that provide public services on behalf of government to deliver their services and make decisions in ways that respect human rights. This workshop provides a introduction to key human rights concepts and the operation of the Charter; outlines obligations on local government as public authorities; identifies strategies to integrate human rights into the culture values and leadership of your organisation; and examines legal and non-legal advocacy opportunities contained within the Charter. Location: Melbourne (Australia) Deadline of application: - Organisation: Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4725&month=10&year=2008

* Human Rights Litigation Date: 4 February-14 April 2009 Level: professional Focus: This distance learning course provides participants with knowledge of the concept, types, venues and strategies of human rights litigation. It focuses on strategic litigation and legal aid both internationally and domestically, and explores a variety of strategies: issue or group oriented litigation, community based services, legal clinics, NGO or law firm resourced actions and others. Participants are familiarised with court-ordered structural relief, as well as with conventional victim-centered legal remedies. Location: Internet (e-learning course) Deadline of application: 1 December 2008 Organisation: HREA URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4799&month=2&year=2009

* International Human Rights - Basic Course Date: 24 November-5 December 2008 Level: professional Focus: Objective of this course is to provide participants with basic knowledge of human rights that will enable them to integrate human rights principles, standards, and approaches into their daily work; and to enable participants to form networks with like-minded professionals so as to benefit from each others experiences and perspectives. Location: Copenhagen (Denmark) Deadline of application: - Organisation: Danish Institute for Human Rights URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4792&month=11&year=2008

* International Tribunals, World Courts and Human Rights Date: 2 February-12 April 2009 Level: (under)graduate, post-graduate, professional Focus: This distance learning course explores the multitude of international courts and tribunals which have been set up – since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals after World War II – to adjudicate on human rights in the broadest sense, including violations of the law of armed conflict and international criminal law. It provides information and case studies on the working of such courts, from the International Court of Justice to ad hoc and hybrid criminal tribunals and from the regional human rights courts to the International Criminal Court. Location: Internet (e-learning course) Deadline of application: 1 December 2008 Organisation: HREA URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4798&month=2&year=2009

* Medicine and Human Rights In Cross-cultural Perspective Date: 19-31 January 2009 Level: (post-)graduate, professional Focus: This two-week summer course offers participants a multi-disciplinary perspective on a variety of issues in the field of medicine and human rights. Participants will discuss experiences of human rights abuses in different cultures, and ‘the righteousness of medical care’ in situations of conflict and reconciliation, asylum and extradition. Location: Leiden (The Netherlands) Deadline of application: 1 October 2008 Organisation: Amsterdam Master's in Medical Anthropology (AMMA) URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4746&month=1&year=2009

* The European Union and Human Rights Date: 2 February-12 April 2009 Level: (under)graduate, post-graduate, professional Focus: This course is an introduction to human rights in the European Union (EU)'s external relations. It seeks to provide fundamental information on the EU's human rights law and policy, explore the critique levelled against the EU and shed light on the legal and political conditions under which the EU seeks to protect and promote human rights globally. Location: Internet (e-learning course) Deadline of application: 1 December 2008 Organisation: HREA URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4800&month=2&year=2009

* University for Peace Institute Date: 12-30 January 2009 Level: (post-)graduate, professional Focus: The University for Peace Institute consists of three-week short courses that will be given in different areas such as Media and Peace, Leadership, Culture, Politics, Conflict and Peace, War and film, Gender, Environment, Law, Development, among others. Location: San José (Costa Rica) Deadline of application: 31 October 2008 Organisation: University for Peace URL: http://www.hrea.org/index.php?base_id=135&language_id=1&erc_doc_id=4745&month=1&year=2009

if you want more infomration, please see http://www.hrea.org/erc/Library

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Ombudsman

The word “ombudsman” can be traced back to the ancient expressions “umbup” (power and authority) or eventually to the Swedish word “ombud”, describing a person acting as a representative, with authority to act on behalf of the others.

The post of the first “true” ombudsman was established in the 18th century by Swedish King Charles XII (if we discount some activities of a similar nature of Roman tribunes or medieval emperors). From 1713 the duty of this ombudsman was to mainly ensure the correct conduct of royal officials. The institution of the ombudsman was firmly incorporated into the Swedish constitution from 1809. It was defined as the parliamentary body supervising judges, government and other officials, and ensuring their compliance with laws and other legal regulations. The embedding of the ombudsman in the constitution was completed by a further law specifying in greater detail the scope of his activities and his legal authority.

The institution of the ombudsman developed and grew most significantly in the 20th century. Ombudsman institutions were on the increase especially in the period after the Second World War when almost a hundred of them were established. The institutions took varied forms and modifications depending on the historical, political and social background of the given country. The names used to refer to the ombudsman institutions may, of course, differ. For example in Spain it is “defensor del pueblo”, in France, “médiateur”, in Austria “Volksanwaltschaft”, in Poland “Rzecznik praw obywatelskich”, in Romania “Avocatul Popolurui”, and in the Czech Republic “veřejný ochránce práv”.

Variety of ombudsman

The basic models of the ombudsman institution can be explained with regard to the way in which they are established. There is the so-called Parliamentary Ombudsman, elected by the parliament or similar law-making authority. In such a case parliament also represents the body to which the parliamentary ombudsman reports. (This is the case in a majority of countries).

Another type of the ombudsman institution, however, not very common, is the so-called Executive Ombudsman, chosen by and reporting to the government. There is also an ombudsman institution that represents a combination of the two previously mentioned types.

The general ombudsman deals with all aspects and activities of state administration. A Specialized Ombudsman deals with only a specific area of state administration (such as prisons, the army, protection of children, protection of data, etc.) The ombudsmen can either be centralized in one place or have a localized scope of authority (e.g. Italy, Switzerland).

The range of powers of the ombudsman and the definition of his/her legitimate authority differs in various countries. Generally it can be defined as a person authorized by the state to resolve complaints of the individuals against state administration or on his/her own initiative to detect inefficiencies, malpractice or violations of the law.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Development of an Integrated Indicator and Monitoring System for Legal and Judicial Reform



A key part of any reform process is measuring the consequence of the reform initiatives – that is if the reform works and progresses as intended. Accordingly, it is an acknowledged priority of the RGC to develop an indicator and monitoring system (IMS) for the Legal and Judicial Reform (LJR). The establishment of such a system has been discussed at TWG/LJR meetings and at bilateral meetings between LJR actors and consensus has been reached that it is now timely to initiate the actual design, piloting and implementation[1].

The framework for LJR in Cambodia has been developed through a comprehensive and participatory process involving all stakeholders, including civil society organisations and international donors. Thus, the framework is a shared framework. The CLJR wish once again to adopt a participatory process and suggests that an IMS be developed jointly between RGC and donors and with civil society consultations. This will secure that all stakeholders have the same reference frame when measuring progress and effect (and ultimately impact) of the LJR – that all have a common language – and ensure the consolidation and sustainability of the IMS.

Context

The development of an IMS is integral to the LJR Strategy and accordingly a priority action of the Action Plan[2]. The LJR Strategy is linked directly into the overall reform initiatives and strategies of the RGC[3]. LJR Strategy operationalizes the Justice Sector Value Paper and the vision statement for the justice sector.

The Value Paper establishes the basic concepts and values for the Cambodian Justice Sector that informs the goals and rationale of the LJR Strategy. The Value Paper also establishes a number of criteria (hereafter termed the Criteria), which have to be fulfilled to realize the values, and these Criteria inform the seven LJR strategic objectives and their related strategies. Finally, the Value Paper lists 63 concrete interventions needed in the Cambodian Justice Sector to reach the Criteria and these interventions inform the actions and activities of the LJR Strategy. Consequently, by measuring the progress of the interventions and the fulfillment of the Criteria established in the Value Paper, the outputs and effects, respectively, of the LJR strategy can be monitored.

Principles

It is essential to the IMS that it monitors whether the LJR activities carried out and the outputs achieved actually contribute towards the fulfillment of the outcomes and goals of LJR and realize the vision for the Cambodian Justice Sector. Also, it is important that the indicators are simple and relatively easily measured and that the IMS strikes a feasible balance between data collection and processing and the capacities of the institutions implementing it.

Linking up to international best-practices

By basing the development of an IMS firmly within the LJR framework, it is ensured that the IMS is anchored in existing, national structures and relate fully to national procedures. That said, a number of international guidelines and checklists provide best-practices for monitoring judicial reform and the IMS in Cambodia should integrate such well-established best-practices – most notably the ABA-CEELI Judicial Reform Index and the World Bank Check List for Evaluating Judicial Performance. Due to the acknowledged comprehensiveness of LJR and the fact that the Criteria are heavily inspired by international best-practices, the vast majority of factors outlined for instance by ABA-CEELI are already captured as part of the fulfillment of the Criteria. Thus, measuring the progress of the interventions and designing indicators that capture the fulfillment of the Criteria established in the Value Paper will ensure both a coherent and nationally anchored approach to the IMS and compliance with international best-practices.

It should also be noted that the focus on the Criteria enables the IMS to reach beyond international best-practices on judicial reform assessments such as the World Bank and ABA-CEELI lists, since the Criteria address not only the judiciary but the justice sector as such and thereby include the legislative framework, institutional capacity etc. which are also integral parts of the Cambodian LJR.

The Criteria are attached as Annex A. Annex B provides a schematic overview of the links between the World Bank and ABA-CEELI lists and the Criteria.

What is measured?

The objective of the establishment of IMS should be to monitor the progress and effect of LJR by measuring performance and outcome of key LJR processes and interventions. Thus, IMS will measure progress, performance and effect in two dimensions:

Dimension 1: Reform Progress and Performance – is the reform progressing according to plan and objectives and are outputs delivered?

This dimension monitors the progress of LJR interventions across the different sector institutions. This dimension will primarily be monitored by the PMU and indicate reform progress on the basis of data from the sector institutions on the implementation of activities in the Action Plan which – as established above – are all related to the 63 interventions of the Value Paper. Are interventions done or not done? Are they timely? Are they delivered with respect of LJR values? Are they well organized, well managed, methodologically sound etc?

Thus, this dimension monitors the performance of reform activities and progress hereof and not the performance of individual institutions. Progress indicators directly measuring the implementation of the 63 interventions of the Value Paper have been suggested as key performance indicators (KPI) for this dimension of the IMS.

Dimension 2: Reform Effect – does the implementation of the reform lead to the desired outcomes and to the realization of the justice sector vision?

This dimension monitors the outcome of LJR and the effect on the justice sector. The monitoring is done by measuring the ways that the justice sector institutions implement their mandates across the different LJR interventions and strategic objectives and in general. This dimension will primarily be monitored through the management information systems that are to be developed in the respective institutions and aggregated by the PMU or the IMS project group. This dimension will primarily indicate reform effect (e.g. by measuring the flow of justice and/or the effectiveness and efficiency of case handling practices, cf. below). However, this dimension will also monitor the performance and institutional strengthening of the respective justice institutions (e.g. in relation to training and staff development) and of the justice sector as such.

Since the Criteria are i) anchored in the vision and values of the Cambodian Justice Sector; ii) relate directly to international best-practices; and iii) inform the seven LJR strategic objectives[4], it is suggested that the Criteria are used as the basis for designing effect/outcome indicators for the LJR and the Cambodian justice sector.

It is suggested that the key outcome indicators of the IMS should be based on relatively few, highly concrete, measurable data, which can be collected through the management information systems of the sector institutions and provide a comprehensive picture of how key justice sector institutions carry out their mandates in relation to the LJR objectives. Thus, the key outcome indicators should hold the potential to indicate both the effect of the way sector institutions carry out their mandates, the fulfillment of the Criteria and the achievement LJR strategic objectives.

The design and selection of key outcome indicators will be a main task during the initial development of the IMS. Indicators measuring the flow of justice and case-handling practices have tentatively been suggested as key outcome indicators due to the fact that they are relatively easily measured and only require a relatively limited data collection and processing. It is envisaged that over time the number and comprehensiveness of indicators can be developed further.

The IMS will not, in its initial phases, assess the impact of LJR on Cambodian society’s progress towards fulfillment of LJR overall goal or the full realization of the concepts of the Values Paper. However, the development and implementation of the first phases of IMS – targeting progress, performance and effect monitoring – will build capacity and ownership among LJR actors that facilitates future impact assessments with a broader outlook on the justice system and the Cambodian society, including the possible integration of public surveys and third party reports[5]. Furthermore, the development of management information systems in the initial phase of the IMS and the data collected in that regard will contribute to the establishment of baseline information on which to base the – later – impact assessment.

Linking up to the JMI-Mechanism

As part of the CDCF process the RGC and its development partners set a number of joint monitoring indicators (JMI) for the implementation of the NSDP – including the governance and cross-sectoral priorities that encompass LJR. These JMI directly relate to the strategic objectives of the LJR and the activities of the Action Plan. Consequently, an IMS based on the LJR will support a further consolidation of the JMI-mechanism by offering a systematic framework for measuring reform progress. The selected JMI for 2007 on training and selection of judicial professionals will for instance be measured through the progress of a number of LJR interventions and activities and by monitoring the strengthening of institutional capacities – including the action planning for human resources and training. Thus, the IMS will both offer key indicators and means of verification for the setting and measuring of JMI.

The Process

It is important that the process of developing IMS is driven by the Cambodian stakeholders with the support from the international stakeholders (e.g. in terms of expertise). In this way, it will be secured that:

· The IMS can serve as a management tool for the relevant actors in the reform, enabling justice sector institutions and stakeholders to systematically and continuously document progress of the LJR and identify bottlenecks and consequently revise plans and actions.

· The justice sector stakeholders’ ability to further clarify and express ambitions and service goals to the citizens is strengthened

· The IMS can work as an accountability mechanism towards the Cambodian society as well as the international community.


[1] This development was also noted and welcomed in the RGC Development partners’ consensus statement on governance at the CDCF June 19 2007.

[2] Plan of Action for Implementing the Legal and Judicial Reform Strategy, Short-Term Priority Action 7.4. “The Sector should develop a monitoring system that can measure how justice is done (include by which rules, processes, institutions and enforcement mechanisms justice is carried out) and at the same time the system should identify problems and bottlenecks in the administration of justice”… “monitoring system of the justice sector to measure its overall performance, including the administration of justice, as a guiding line for overall reform”.

[3] The high prioritisation of LJR are articulated in the Rectangular Strategy and LJR integrates directly with National Poverty Reduction Strategy, the National Strategy Development Plan and the Public Administration Reform

[4] Annex C links the seven LJR Strategic Objectives to the Criteria…

[5] When developing impact indicators, the Vera Institute

material could provide useful inspiration.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Legal Aid in Cambodia: Practices, Perceptions and Needs

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Under the terms of its Legal and Judicial Strategy Action Plan, the Royal Government of Cambodia is committed to improving the quality of legal processes and related services, including high quality legal aid services. This study is a first step in meeting this commitment.

The aim of this study has been to establish the nature and character of legal aid service in Cambodia, and to assess various perceptions of what legal aid is and what it should be. The findings of the study are intended to inform future decisions taken by Government and NGOs about the measures needed to improve legal aid services.

The study has taken into account the regulatory framework for legal aid in Cambodia. This includes elements of the Cambodian Constitution and the 1993 State of Cambodia Criminal Procedure Law, both of which prescribe the provision of legal aid. It also includes the Law on the Bar, which calls upon the Bar Association to provide legal aid services to those who need it.

The study recognizes that apart from private practitioners contracted by the Bar Association to provide limited legal aid services, as well as the few private practitioners who provide services pro bono publico (for the public good, i.e. free of charge), those currently providing legal aid services in Cambodia consist entirely of NGOs.

The survey found that almost one quarter of all licensed lawyers and trainee lawyers are in the full-time employ of legal aid organizations, that is, NGOs specializing in legal aid.

From a client’s perspective

The survey showed that while Cambodian citizens have limited knowledge of legal aid and where to get legal aid services, perceptions of legal aid as a concept and a practice are generally favorable.

Potential users or clients of legal aid services emphasized to survey researchers the need for information about legal aid to be made available, particularly through mass media. Current legal aid providers agreed on the need for information on legal aid to be disseminated, but emphasized the value of training courses at the community level.

Of the major legal issues faced by local communities in the areas surveyed, potential clients identified the following: land disputes, domestic violence and other issues relating to human rights violations, and crime generally.

The survey showed that when they obtain referrals to legal aid services most local people do so through local advisors, mainly commune and village authorities. It showed that they often face serious constraints relating to financing, communications and a knowledge of the law. Financial constraints include not having money to travel to and from legal aid providers’ offices. Communication problems are usually to do with clients being unable to communicate physically with legal aid professionals, either because they do not know where the legal aid professionals are located or because they do not have access to telephones. Limited knowledge of the law and legal processes is often a practical hindrance in the way of legal aid being effectively provided, with legal aid clients destroying essential evidence, approaching

interventions.

Issues faced by providers

In survey interviews potential clients and providers both said that legal aid providers lack adequate human resources and do not budget sufficient resources for office equipment (particularly IT-related equipment), salaries, and investigation expenses. Legal aid professionals also noted a lack of needed legal resources such as the texts of current laws.

Interview respondents suggested improving legal aid services by promoting greater linkages between clients and local government authorities, and also by improving the formal justice system in terms of capacity, transparency, accountability, fairness and independence.

Key stakeholders made recommendations in four areas: budgets and financing, institutions and infrastructure, human resources, and client awareness. Specifically they proposed:

Budgetary & financing


  • Creation of an informal national network of representatives of Government institutions, BAKC (Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia), NGOs focusing on legal aid, and donor agencies to discuss challenges and ensure cohesion in legal aid interventions.

  • Involvement of business and trade associations, and larger private sector enterprises, in financing specific legal aid initiatives.

  • Government allocation of specific budgets for legal aid and the development of legal aid policies, with budget funds channeled through BAKC or some other central coordinating body.

Institutions and Infrastructure


  • Development of alternative channels, for example commune or village authorities, social workers, police and court personnel, to work with the justice sector to increase the outreach of legal aid services.

  • Dissemination to community and peer networks of knowledge and skills relating to legal aid, so that information about legal aid services is more readily available.

  • Creation of (a) an outreach program with the participation of the private sector, including business associations and larger private sector enterprises; (b) a toll-free central legal aid referral phone line for citizens to ask about legal issues and legal aid services; (c) more legal aid offices with more lawyers at the provincial level; and (d) databases, documentation centers and libraries of important laws.

  • Implementation by BAKC of a standardized recruitment, placement and M&E process, including a means test and fee structure, so that it can hire and place volunteer lawyers as a way of meeting its mandate and ensuring that poor people get legal aid.

  • Development of a Legal Aid Foundation to serve as a conduit for funds and to develop a legal aid infrastructure. Foundation members would include representatives of the justice sector, legal aid NGOs, BAKC, donors and private businesses.

Human resources

  • Training on basic rights and legal aid services for social workers and commune and village authorities in areas where legal aid clients are most in need - land law, domestic violence and criminal matter
  • Training for ‘points of first contact’ such as social workers and commune or village authorities so that they can advise their clients about basic rights and legal aid servicesTraining to improve the skills of legal aid professionals in trial conduct and advocacy, client investigations, and interviewing, especially interviewing trauma victims
  • Removal of the current limit of 50-55 lawyers that can be sworn in by the Bar and enter practice in any one year, so that market-led demands can be met.
      • Creation of arrangements for private practitioners to provide legal aid services in urban areas so that scarce legal aid resources can be focused on rural areas.
      • Development of (a) a cadre of professional legal assistants able to support legal aid lawyers; and (b) a cadre of community paralegals trained and with adequate resources to serve as ‘first aiders’ for legal problems.
      • Inclusion of clinical teaching methodologies in university teaching programs, thus providing some legal aid services to poor people while ensuring that law school graduates are equipped to provide such services.

    Client awareness

      Promotion of a concerted, coordinated effort to promote potential clients’ awareness of legal aid via a range of local and national communication media.

For more detail information, please find in: http://www.ewmi-praj.org/download/legalaid/Legal%20Aid%20in%20Cambodia%20study%20report.pdf


Tuesday, April 1, 2008

what is the meaning of "Dara"?

Dara is my given name. i was told from my various friends around the world my name there are many meaning according to the country. Here i just found some few meaning in different languages.
Dara is a name with more than one origin.
It is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara was a biblical descendant of Judah known for his wisdom. As a Hebrew name it may mean "pearl of wisdom" or "wisdom and compassion", although in Modern Hebrew dara is part of the verb "to live", and in Aramaic it means "pearl", "father-of-pearl" or "marble".
In Cambodian Khmer, Dara is a boy's name meaning "star". In Turkish and in Punjabi, Dara means "leader". In Persian Dara (Persian: دارا) means "wealthy" and is a boy's name ([1]). In the Kiswahili version Dara means "the beautiful one". Dara also means "boy" in Indonesian.
Dara is also frequently used in Ireland (and the United States), as either a male or a female given name, and it also occurs as a surname. The spelling varies, with variations including Dara, Daire and Darragh. The Irish form is probably derived from doire, the Irish word for "oak tree", though as a surname it may be a version of the Irish name Mac Dubhdara.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara"

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Access to Cambodian law

Information concerning to the laws and regulations in Camnbodia is so difficult to reach even i am working in the legal and judicial reform council but information sharing is still a challenges for me and for my colleages. Some time when i want to get a new law passed by the national assembly i need to contact my friends who working in the different government institution involving legal framework. I think one way that every body can help is needing everybody support to share legal information for each other by using the blog to put all legal and regulations you had in your hand on the your blog and then we can share.

Now in my blog i tried to post some important laws and regulations in my blog and hopefully i can find more legal documents and hosting in my blog in order to provide more information concerning to access to legal information in Cambodia. my plan will continue to update all legal information in my blog. However it needs very much your support to provide other legal information as well in order to share and make legal information accessing more reliable and accessible to all people.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Presentation of Country Report

It is a very great time for me and my colleagues to have an opportunity to present our Cambodian country report on the justice system for Japanese student and officials and other participants from other countries who take part in the young leaders program on Constitution of legal system. mostly i present an overview of our country related to the background and history and our culture as well. Importantly, i presented them the history of the legal system of Cambodia where it passed so many years of civil wars and many legal system has been introduced to the Cambodian legal system where we use to have a great legal and administration system from the past especially in the Khmer Empire (Angkor period).

All the Japanese participants were appreciated our presentation very much and they said that it was a great presentation to show them with am overview of Cambodia especially the Cambodian legal system from the past until now.

In the last day of the training, i was selected to be a representative of the Team of all participans to provide thank speech in the closing ceremony. it was a great opportunity for me too and also for the Cambodian Team as well to have a specially representative for all participants in the training.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Japan Visit


It is a good chance for me to come to Japan for a short training Course on Legal System with my colleagues who work with me in the PMU of Legal and Judicial Reform. i arrived Tokyo on 25 February 2008. it is my first time in Tokyo. I think it is similar situation like i used to stayed in Germany for more than one year for my master degree of Public Management in Potsdam University in Berlin. However the population in the city is a bit crowded compared to Germany.

this is some pictures that i took in Tokyo during my stay in Japan.

the people is so kind and they use to bow a lot. the city is covered by so many high building and crowded. Unfortunately during my stay is not the time for the Sakura flowers that why i can't see the beautiful Sakura flower season. the beautiful Sakura season is around the end of March and beginning of Avril.

i have a chance to test a Japanese Sushi. i think the test is good and i like it so much. i went to one restaurent near in the Shinsuku region. it is crowded i have to wait many poeple to test that Sushi. The sauce is good test i like it. all fish is fresh. i take it with sauce. my friend take more than 8 plates which one plate is costing according to the color of plates from 130 yen to 600 yen.