Police, Not People, Should Collect Evidence: Expert

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
29 September 2009

It is the job of law enforcement to find evidence following a legal complaint, and not that of an average citizen, a leading rights monitor said Monday.

People are often confused, believing they are beholden to find evidence before proceeding through legal channels, said Ny Chakriya, monitor section chief for Adhoc, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

“Feeling like one needs to find evidence while filing a complaint, that’s a big confusion,” he said, though it is one shared by many Cambodians.

While regular citizens need more information about the law, judicial reform at the top needs some time, he said.

There are positive changes, including amendments to some laws, and some negative aspects of reform, as a few key laws have not been established.

A criminal law, law on judges, anti-corruption legislation and a law on the Supreme Council of Magistracy all need passed, he said.

The new criminal procedure is still a concern, especially with defamation charges, as a defendant can face jail time even if nothing is eventually found wrong against him, Ny Chakriya said.

“We’ve asked for the deletion of some parts regarding defamation, but we do not know whether the National Assembly will agree or not,” he said.

Anti-graft legislation in sight: govt [- In another 10-year time?]

Thursday, 11 September 2008
Written by Thet Sambath and Chun Sophal
The Phnom Penh Post

Passage of penal code hoped to lead to anti-corruption law

THE Council of Ministers is in the process of reviewing a new draft penal code, the passage of which will pave the way for the Kingdom's long-delayed anti-corruption legislation.

But with only 40 of some 700 articles examined so far, critics say this is just another ploy to avoid passing the graft-busting decree, which has been a key demand of foreign donors.

"The Council of Minister currently has reviewed more than 40 articles of the 700 articles of the draft penal code," Deputy Prime Minister Sok An told a conference Monday.

"After reviewing the draft [penal code] the government will continue to inspect the anti-corruption law," he added, without specifying a date that the review would be completed.

Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker and spokesman Son Chhay said that while the opposition welcomed the review of the draft penal code, they urged the government to finish the job "sooner rather than later".

"We are very worried as this fourth-term government has more than 500 members," Son Chhay said. "If we have don't have an anti-corruption law and penal code, we will have difficulty punishing corrupt officials," he added.

Ny Chakrya, head of the monitoring section for the rights group Adhoc, said, "[Reviewing the penal code first] is the CPP's pretext to avoid making the anti-corruption law. They have a real purpose to delay [this] debate."

According to Ny Chakrya, the government's lacklustre commitment to passing anti-corruption legislation is shown in the fact less essential laws - such as one banning adultery - were passed first.

Bun Uy, secretary of state for the Council of Ministers, told Post by phone Tuesday that government has no reason to delay the passage of the anti-corruption law. "We need to pass the new penal code first because punishing crime is related both to the penal code and the anti-corruption law," he said.

Unless the penal code was passed first, the anti-corruption law could end up conflicting with it, he said. "The relevant ministries are working very hard and had discussed this week [how to expedite the passage of] the penal code.