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VOLUME LEGAL SYSTEMS O F T H E WORLD / I Political, Social, aiu) Cultural Encyclopedia J-~ " H E R B E R T M. K RITZE R , EDITOR

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V O L U M E L E G A L S Y S T E M S

O F T H E W O R L D

/I Political, Social, aiu) Cultural Encyclopedia

J-~"

H E R B E R T M. K R I T Z E R ,

E D I T O R

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Copyright © 2002 by Herbert M. Kritzer

Al l rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permis-

sion in writing from the publishers.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicanon Data

Legal systems of the world ; a political, social, an d cul tura l

encyclopedia / edited by Herbert M. Kritzer.

p. cm.Includes index.

ISBN 1-57607-231-2 (hardcover : alk. paper); 1-57607-758-6 (e-book)

1. Law—Encyclopedias. I. Kritzer, Herbert M., 1947—

K48 .L44 2002

340'.03—dc21

2002002659

"Cape Verde" originally published in the Journal o f 'African Law 44, no. 1 (2000): 86-95.

Material in "Comoros" and "Djibouti" used with the kind permission of K/uwer Law International.

Material in "European Court of Justice" from Kenney, Sally J. "The European Court of

Justice: Integrating Europe through Law." 81Judicature 250-255 (1998). Reprinted

in Crime and Justice International,November.

06 05 04 03 02 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit abc-clio.com for details.

ABC-CLIO, Inc.

13 0 Cremona Drive, P.O. B ox 1911

Santa Barbara, California 93116—1911

This book is printed on acid-free paper ©.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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CAMBODIA

G E N E R A L INFORMATION

Cambodia (Kampuchea), officially the Kingdom of Cam-

bodia, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered on the

east and the southeast by Vietnam, on the northwest by

Laos, on the west and northwest by Thailand, and on the

southwest by the Gulf of Siam and Thailand. From northto south Cambodia spans 450 kilometers (280 miles) and

from east to west about 580 kilometers (360 miles). Its

total area is approximately 182,000 square kilometers

(70,000 square miles). The central part of the country con-

sists of plains spreading out from the Mekong River delta.

To the north are the Damgrek Mountains. To the south are

Cardamon (Kravanh) Mountains, and the Damrei Moun-

tains form the highland area covering the region between

the great freshwater lake Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Siam.

Cambodia's population in 1998, according to official

figures, was 11,437,657, with females comprising 52 per-

cent of the population. One-quarter of Cambodian

women are heads of household. Approximately 42 per-

c ent of the population is under the age of fifteen, and 50

percent is under the age of eighteen. The vast majority of

the people, 85 percent, live and work in rural areas. Out

of this rura l population, 83 percent of women and 72

percent of men work in agriculture.

Cambodia has twenty-one different ethnic minorities.

Seventeen are ethnic tribes; the other four areThais, Chi-

nese, Vietnamese, and Laotians.

The rate of annual population growth, 2.5 percent, is

the highest in the region. Population density is at 64 per-

sons per square kilometer. The rapid population growth

affects the growth of gross domestic product (GDP),

which was at 4 percent per year in 1999. In 2000, GDP

per capita was US$274.

The official language of Cambodia is Khmer. The cap-

ital city is Phnom Penh.

H I S T O R YCambodia today is a small remnant of what was once a

large Khmer empire that peaked in the twelfth and thir-

teenth centuries. Archeological evidence is that Khmer

habitation in Southeast Asia dates back about 600,000

years and Khmer civilization may have begun as early as

two thousand years ago.Following the demise of the Khmer empire in the

mid-f if teenth century, Cambodia experienced invasions

by its neighbors as well as internal conflicts. In 1863,

France established a protectorate over the country.

Cambodia promulgated its first modern constitution in

1947, establishing democratic governance and a multiparty

system largely modeled on the constitution of the French

Fourth Republic. Cambodia gained its independence in

1953 under the leadership of King Norodom Sihanouk. In

1955, King Sihanouk abdicated the throne in favor of this

father, Norodom Suramaritr, so that he might involve him-

self in national politics.At this stage in Cambodian history,

the 1947 constitution relegated the role of the monarch to

that of symbolic rather than actual power—it became a

constitutional monarchy. For Sihanouk to play an actual

political role, he had to abdicate the throne, as a monarch

could not also participate in the political governance of thestate. Sihanouk became die country's political leader, and

die country was under his authoritarian rule until he was

ousted from his position as prime minister/head of state by

Lon Nol in a military coup on March 18, 1970.

Following the 1970 coup, the country became em-

broiled in civil war. Cambodian Communist forces, widely

known as the Khmer Rouge, gained increasing power both

by taking over Cambodian territory and through popular

support an d support by Shanouk. After his ouster, Si-

hanouk allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, thus boost-

ing the influence and popularity of the Communist move-

ment. The nation was further destabilized because of the

United States' extension of the Vietnam War into Cambo-

dia in pursuit of enemy guerrillas. Carpet bombing of the

countryside killed some 700,000 Cambodians.

On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over the

country. Soon they established the most repressive and

brutal regime in Cambodia's history. They emptied the

cities and forced the urban population into the country-

side. In their reign of terror about 1.7 million people

died; more than 100,000 were executed; and the rest per-

ished from diseases, malnutrition, and exhaustion.

In 1979, as a result of long-simmering border disputes

and with military assistance from the Soviet Union, Viet-

nam invaded Cambodia and drove the Khmer Rouge

from power. In their place, the Vietnamese army installed

a group of ex—Khmer Rouge officers, including Hun Sen,

the current prime minister of Cambodia. Remnants of

the Khmer Rouge regrouped along the border with Thai-

land. Other non-Communist groups also organized resis-

tance to the Vietnamese-backed regime.

The resistance continued for ten years. In September

1989, Vietnam pulled out its troops, and in October 1991,

the four warring factions—the Khmer National Liberation

Front, FUNCINPEC (an acronym of the French name for

the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral,

Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia), the State of Cam-bodia (representing the incumbent Vietnamese-backed

government), and Democratic Kampuchea (known as the

Khmer Rouge)—reached a United Nations—brokered

peace agreement in Paris. Under this agreement, Cambo-

dia was put under the administration of the United Na-

tions Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). One

of UNTAC's main duties was to administer general elec-

tions held in 1993. The factions converted into political

parties to compete in the election. Despite political vio-

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lence and intimidation by the Cambodian People's Party(CPP), representing the former Communist regime, and

by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, approximately 90 percent

of Cambodians voted. The royalist FUNCINPEC party,

headed by Prince Norodom Ranarridh, won the election.

The CPP refused to accept FUNCINPEC's victory

and threatened to p l u n g e the coun t ry back into civil war

if power was not shared with them. Ult imately, a power-

shar ing agreement was reached between Ranariddh, who

became first minister, and Hun Sen, vice president of the

C P P , who became second prime minister.

In 1997, Sen staged a coup in which hundreds of

FUNCINPEC m em bers and m em bers of opposition par-ties were killed or injured. R anarr idh was ousted as first

pr ime m inister. Hun Sen of the CPP currently heads the

government of Cam bodia .

LEGAL SYSTEM

Pre-Angkorian Era

Detai ls about the legal system of the pre-Angkorian era

are sparse. The memoirs of two Chinese diplomats, dat-

in g from 225 C.E. , show that Cambodia (called Funan)had a system of laws modeled on the Indian system. The

Cambodian system, which survived until the thirteenth

century, as reported by another Chinese diplomat, in-

cluded trials by ordeal such as throwing the accused to

wild animals. Trials by ordeal exist unofficially in the

count ry to this day, although they are very rare.

Angkor

The stability of the Khmer Empire (Angkor), beginning

in 802, allowed for reform and elaboration of the legal

system. The ancient Khmer society was hierarchical; per-

sonal status flowed from function or posit ion held in theadm inistration, titles, nam es, and wealth. The system of

ownership of land was well developed.

The court of law was called vmh sabha or dhamad-

hikarona. There were central or municipal courts of law

called vrah sabha nagara an d provincial or territorial

courts called vrah sabha sruk. The sovereign was the ulti-

mate authori ty of law and had the power to grant

amnesty or pardon.

The officials associated with the administrat ion of jus-

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tice were given the title sabhapati (later sopheathipdey),

president of the court of the presiding judges; guna-

dosadarsi, inspector of qualities an d defects; svat vrah

dharmasastra, reciter of the sacred legal text; vyavaharad-

hikarin or ranvan, usher; care, emissary; vrah sarvad-

hikarin, jud ic ia l l and surveyor ; mahasresthi or

sresthimukhya, chief of merchants; ta ca m likhita kamvu-

vansa nu anga vrah rajakaryya, records keeper; Pratyaya orrajapratyaya, royal confidante or representative; an d

pratyaya mrtakadhana or amrtakadha.no,, administrator of

property received by inheritance.

Indian legal textbooks such the Manu, the Dhar-

masastras, and other sastras or law were studied and prac-

ticed in the royal courts. Legal terminology, both that

used for speaking in court and that used in writing, was

mainly in Sanskrit, but K h m e r was used in descriptions

of material facts.

The l itigation process commenced with a complaint

by the plaintiff , a response by the defendant, and exami-

nation by the court. The steps in the proceeding were

also modeled on the vyavahara matyka. The procedure of

examination of witnesses (saksin) and evidence was also

modeled after the Indian practice of the time.

In the late sixteenth century, in the aftermath of inva-

sion by the Siamese, which resulted in looting and de-

struction of legal texts and records, King Chey Chettha

focused on law reform. He created a royal law commis-

sion an d appointed six people to revise and collate legal

texts that remained in the country. As a result, twelve

volumes of law were promulgated. Two of the m ost im-

portan t laws were the Kram Sopheathipdey or Law of the

Presiding Judges and Kram Chor or Crimes Act . The

death penalty was abolished, and the severity of sentenceswas reduced.

French Influence on the Cambodian Legal System

In 1863, Cambodia became a French protectorate. By the

French-Cambodian treaty of 1884, a French adm inistra-

tion of justice was established, under the supervision of a

French resident. By royal ordinance of Febru ary 7, 1902,

the provincial court of first instance, the Sala Khet, and a

court of appeal, the Sala Outor, were established on the

basis of Cambodian law. A royal ordinance of June 26,

1903, established the Supreme Court , the Sala Vinichay.

A t this stage, indigenous laws were still applicable. B yroyal ordinanc e of September 7, 1910, formal law courses

were established in K h m e r fo r judicial officials.

Royal commissions were created by a royal ordinances

of May 5 and August 11, 1905, and by ordinances of

September 3, and October 21, 1908. The royal ordi-

nance of November 20, 1911, the Code of Cr im ina l In-

structions and Judicial Organization, Penal Code, B o o k

I, of the French Civil Code were promulgated and came

into force on July 1, 1 912.

In 1915, the French took complete control over the

C ambod ian judiciary. In the early 1920s, indigenous laws

were replaced by French laws and the French legal system.

A civil code, a law on jud icial organization, a judicial per-

sonnel statute, and a law on the control of the judiciary

were promulgated. A court of petty crimes Sala Lahu,

court of first instance (Sala Dambaung or Sala Lukhun in

Phnom Penh), the Court of Appeal (Sala Outor), and theSupreme Court (Sala Vinichay) w ere established. B ook I,

previously promulgated, was recodified and came into

force on July 1, 1920. It was now divided into four books

regulating person, property, obligations (contracts and

torts), and procedure. By royal ordinance of April 5,

1948, an administrative chamber was established with the

jurisdiction to hear administrative matters. Appeals are

submitted to the Council of Ministers. In 1953, an ad-

ministrative appeal tribunal was established to hear ap-

peals. This entire legal system was abolished in April 1975

when the Khmer Rouge took power .

After the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, which ousted

the Khmer Rouge regime, and the installment of a pup-

pet regime officially known as the People's Republic of

Kam puchea , a legal system was reestablished, but mod-

eled on that of the Soviet Union. Despite constitutional

reform in 1993, the Soviet system and practice still de-

fine, in part, the Cambodian legal system today.

LEGAL CONCEPTS

The Cambodian legal system has suffered as a result of

the various political influences since C ambo dian inde-

pendence in 1953—authoritarianism, military dictator-

ship, the total annihilation of the French-based legal sys-

tem by the Khm er Rouge , and the introduction of

Soviet-style communism under the Vietnamese-backed

regime established in 1979 . The current regime, which

took power in 1993, bears many hallmarks of Soviet-style

practice.

Only ten lawyers remained in Cambodia after the

K hmer Rouge were ousted. Thousands of lawyers were

killed, died of starvation or disease, or fled the country.

The legal infrastructure was also destroyed and has had to

be rebuilt from scratch.

A s a result of 1993 elections sponsored by the United

Nations, Cambodia adopted a new consti tut ion. The

199 3 c onstitution stipulates liberal democracy and amultiparty system. It provides for a separation of powers

between the three branches of government—the legisla-

ture, executive, and judiciary. The legislature is composed

of the National Assembly and the Senate. The consti tu-

tion states that a free-market economy is the foundation

of state's economic system. It restores the monarchy, but

with the st ipulat ion that the monarch reigns but does not

rule. It recognizes and respects hum an rights as defined in

the U.N. Charter , the Universal Declaration of Human

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Rights, and all other treaties concerning human rights,

women's rights, and children's rights. It also provides for

due process of law and prohibits enacting laws with

retroactive force. It provides for checks and balances on

the branches of government. It allows citizens of both

sexes over twenty-five years of age to run for office.

Despite the liberal terms of the constitution, in reality

Cambodia is dominated by a powerfu l executive and ajudiciary composed of generally unqualified political

appointees.

JUDICIARY

Article 109 of the constitution enshrines, for the first

time in Cambodian history, the principle of the indepen-

dence of the judiciary. The judiciary comprises four sep-

arate legal entities: the Constitutional Council, the

Supreme Council of Magistracy, the courts, and prosecu-

tors. The court system is divided into courts of first in-

stance, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.

The judiciary has the constitutional power to review

the executive branch. Citizens are entitled to lodge com-

plaints with the court for judicial redress of violations of

the law by the executive, by organs of the executive, or by

members of a particular organ. It is also empowered to de-

termine administrative law matters, which traditionally

were the competence of the executive, the administrative

chamber, which is a separate administrative law structure

with the Council of State as the supreme court. The 1953

constitution provided for the establishment of a council of

state, perhaps to act as the highest administrative law re-

view body; but an organic law was never passed and so this

body was never created. Accordingly, not a single admin-

istrative law case has been heard in Cambodia since 1970.

Supreme Council of the Magistracy

To guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the 1993

constitution provides for the establishment of an inde-

pendent body, the Supreme Council of the Magistracy,

with the power to appoint, transfer, suspend, and remove

judges and prosecutors. In December 1994, the National

Assembly adopted the Law on the Organization and the

Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy.

During debate of the draf t law, the minister of justice,

who had previously acknowledged that the constitution

prohibited him f rom sitting on the council, insisted onbeing included as a member of it. Over opposition, and

with the Constitutional Council not yet formed to review

the constitutionality of his membership, the law was

passed and the justice minister became a member.

The Supreme Council of the Magistracy is composed

of nine members: the king, who presides over the council;

the minister of justice; the president of the Supreme

Court; the prosecutor general attached to the Supreme

Court; the President of the Court of Appeal; the prosecu-

tor general attached to Court of Appeal; and three judges

selected f rom among all sitting judges. All members ex-

cept the king are political appointees of the ruling CPP.

The Law on Political Parties allows members of the coun-

cil to maintain their party ties and engage in such politi-

cal activities as campaigning during elections. Without a

clearly defined term of office and a requirement of legal

qualifications, the members are vulnerable to politicalmanipulation, and the ability of the Supreme Council to

ensure judicial independence comes under question.

The new law assigned to the council powers beyond

those permitted by the constitution. The council has, for

example, not only the power to discipline judges and

prosecutors but also to remove and dismiss them.

Constitutional Council

The 1993 constitution provides for the creation of a

Constitutional Council to interpret laws passed by the

National Assembly and to rule on their constitutionality.

Although the constitution fails to assert that this council

is to be independent from any other governmental body,

the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the

Constitutional Council does so.

In providing for a constitutional council, the Cambo-

dian constitution of 1993 mirrors the French constitu-

tion of 1958, which included the constitutional review

body in order to curb excesses of legislative or executive

power. This is an example of appropriating French law

and institutions where they may not be appropriate to the

Cambodian context, where the executive has always

dominated the other branches.

The Constitutional Council consists of nine members,

each appointed for a nineyear term. The terms are stag-

gered, so that one-third of the council members are re-

placed every three years. Three of the members are ap-

pointed by the king, three by the National Assembly, and

three by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy. The

president of the Constitutional Council is appointed by

the members of the council. The president, who must be

a CPP member, has the prevailing vote in case of ties.

There is no guarantee of tenure—the king, the Na-

tional Assembly, or the Supreme Council of the Magis-

tracy can remove a member at will before the member's

nine-year term is completed—although such a guarantee

would facilitate members' impartiality and independence.Neither is there a requirement that members have legal

qualifications or undergo legal training following appoint-

ment. Rather, any Cambodian with a degree in law, ad-

ministration, diplomacy, or economics and at least fifteen

years of work experience to be appointed to the council.

The jurisdiction of the Constitutional Council is

broader than that of its French counterpart. It automati-

cally reviews the constitutionality of "organic laws, Na-

tional Assembly's Internal Regulations, amendments to

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the organic law and National A ssembly's Internal Regula-

tion" after passage by the National Assembly but prior to

promulgation, and any enacted law or promulgated law

submitted for review by the king, the president of the

National Assembly or one-tenth of its members, or the

prime minister . Ordinary Cambodians m ay also seek re-

view of any law by petitioning the president of National

Assembly or an assembly member. In addition, the lawgrants litigating parties th e right to submit fo r review by

the cou ncil any provision of a law at issue in the litigation

or any administrative decision that affects the party's

rights or liberties. Ap plications fo r such review are to be

lodged at the Supreme Court. Arguably, this provision is

in violation of article 109 of the constitutio n, which vests

the competence of the review of administrative decisions

in the courts.

Unlike its French counterpart, however, the council

does not have the power to review executive decrees, de-

cree-laws, subdecrees (regulatio ns), and interna tiona l

treaties. The council therefore serves as a check againstabuses by the legislative branch while allowing the exec-

utive to enact decrees with impunity.

It appears that it was the intention of the National A s-

sembly that th e council be an independent body. T he

Constitutional Council A ct requires members to be im-

partial and to recuse themselves from consideration of

any case that presents a conflict of interest. Deliberations

and votes must be secret. Members are prohibited from

making public statements. Like the Supreme Council of

the Magistracy, however, the C onstitution al C ouncil is

dom inated by the CPP. Six of the council's nine m embers

belong to the ruling party, an d only a simple 5 — 4 major-

ity vote is required for a decision. There are no council

members from th e other p olitical parties. T he C P P mem-

bers of the council are encouraged to maintain their party

affiliation, although council rules require that a leave of

absence be granted if a memb er wants to work o n an elec-

tion campaign or seek elective office.

An example of the politicization of the council is that

it declined to hear eighty-five complaints regarding re-

cent elections lodged by an opposition party, the Sam

Rainsy Party. These com plaints were rejected outright by

clerks an d were never reviewed by council members .

Structure of the Judicial System

In civil and crimina l matters, cases are initiated at the cou rt

of first instance, the municipal court, or the provincial

court. Appeal is a matter of right in both civil and crimi-

na l matters, and the Court of Appeal w ill hear an appeal de

novo on both factual and legal issues. A further right of ap-

peal, on legal grounds, can be made to the Supreme Court,

th e highest court fo r general cases unrelated to constitu-

tional law issues. T he structure of the Cambodian court

system is shown in the accompanying figure.

Legal Structure of Cambodia Courts

Constitutional Cou ncil

T he Military Court was established in 1981 under

Decree-Law No. 05 (12/08/81), which gives the court ju-

risdiction to try members of the military, civilians who

work in the Ministry of National Defense, an d civilians

who have committed military offenses with members of

the military.

Specialized Judicial Bodies

Cambodia is in a process of setting up a special tribunal,

officially known as the Extraordinary Chamber in the

Courts of Cambodia. T he draft law, called the Law on

the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the

Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Com-

mitted under th e Period of Democratic Kampuchea

("The Khmer Rouge Law"), was passed by the National

Assemby in January 2001 and has been promulgated. A s

of November 2001, the next steps for setting up the tri-

bunal had not been taken by the Cambodian govern-

ment. Some internationa l observers are concerned abo ut

an apparent reluctance on the part of the Cambodian

government to set up the tribunal after years of discus-

sion with th e United Nations and the international com-

munity.

This tr ibunal , if successfully established, will have the

jurisdiction to hear charges of genocide, crimes against

humanity, and war crimes levied against Khmer Rougemembers who are believed responsible for the death of

about 1 .7 million people during their period of their rule,

from April 1 7 , 1975 , to January 7 , 1 9 7 9 .

National Elections Committee

T he National Elections Committee (NEC) is a body es-

tablished in 1997 to administer the election of members

of th e National A ssembly an d commune elections and to

adjudicate electoral disputes. T he Constitutional Council

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is its final appellate body. Although the NEC was sup-

posed to be an im partial body composed of representa-

tives of all parties that contested the 1993 elections, in re-

ality its ten members were appointed by the CPP.

Staffing

There is no requirement fo r members of the judiciary to

have a law degree or a particular level of legal training.T he Royal Faculty of Law in Phnom Penh, closed in

1975, reopened only in 1993, and its first class graduated

in 1997.

A s of 2001 , only two of nine Supreme Court justices

held a bachelor's degree, and only one of those two de-

grees was in law. Two judges had a diploma in law, hav-

ing studied law for one year. Of the remaining judges,

two had graduated from high school, one from primary

school, one held a teacher's certificate, and one was a

graduate of the Ecole Royale d'Administration.

Of the Court of Appeal judges, six held Bachelor of

La w degrees, and one had a bachelor's degree in another

field. Of the remaining three judges, two had graduated

from high school and one from primary school.

T he accompanying figure shows th e nu m b e r an d dis-

position of judicial personnel in Cambodia.

LEGAL PROFESSION

After twenty years without a law regulating the legal pro-

fession, the Law on the B ar was adopted on Jun e 1 5,

1995. As a result, the Bar Association was established on

October 6, 1995. On that day, thirty-eight lawyers were

admitted to legal practice before the Co urt of Appeal.

The new members later elected a president of the associ-

ation and nine members of the Bar Council, a body thatregulates the association as a whole. The B ar Council has

the power to grant an d revoke licenses to practice law. A s

of 2001 , there are 221 members of the bar, of whom only

176 hold a license to practice and are practicing.

Apart from its responsibility to train, professionalize,

an d discipline its members, the Bar Association plays an

integral role in estab lishin g democracy and the rule of law

in Cambodia. Unfortunately, th e association has become

politicized and has been accused of corruption. Its mem-

bers have been known to act in an unprofessional man-

ner as brokers between judicial officials an d their clients.

There are two internationally funded legal aid organi-zations in Cambodia that have been providing free legal

assistance to the poor: Legal Aid of Cambodia, created in

1995, and the Cambodian Defender Project, created in

1994. Most practicing lawyers in Cambodia work for

these tw o organizations.

IMPACT OF THE LAW

Cambodia has a civil law tradition, but the administra-

tion of justice still bears the hallmark of the old Soviet

Cambodia Judiciary

Category Judges Prosecutors

Constitutional Council

Supreme Cour t

Appea l Court

Provincial/Municipal Court

Military Court

Total in Judiciary

9

9

10

89

11

128*

4

4

46

4

58

Clerks

15

59

43

372

36

525

'Includes 7 judges in the Ministry of Justice.

practices. The government, dominated by the CPP, does

no t regard legal reform as a priority. Nevertheless, Cam-

bodia has moved beyond the years of brutal repression

and is beginning to rebuild social and governmental in-

stitutions and the national economy. T he 1993 constitu-

tion provides for the protection of human rights and forthe establishment of the democratic institutions. Al-

though not always followed in practice, the constitution

can supply the legal framework for the gradual evolution

of Cambodia's political system from authoritarianism to

democracy. The determining factor, however, will be

whether future governments of Cambodia accept the

principle of democracy and the rule of law.

Bora Touch

See also France; Vietnam; Laos

References and further reading

Chakravarti, Adhir. 1978. The Sdok Ka k Thorn Inscriptions: A

Study in Indo-Khmer Civilization. Part 1. Calcutta: Sanskrit

College.

Donovan, Dolores A., Sidney Jones, and Robert]. Muscat.

1993. Rebuilding Cambodia: Human Resources, Human

Rights, an d Law.

Initial Report of States Parties Due in 1993: Cambodia.

23/09/98. CCPR/C/81/Add.l2 (State Party Report).

Cambodia's Report to the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights Committee.

Marks, Stephen. 1994. "The New Cambodian Constitution:

From Civil War to Democracy." Columbia Human Rights

Law Review 26(5): 45.

Sok, Siphana, and Denoran Sarin. 1998. The Legal System of

Cambodia.

Ricklefs, M. C. 1967. "Land and the Law in the Epigraphy of

Tenth-Century Cambodia." Journal of Asian Studies 26(3):

4 1 1 .

C A M E R O O N

GENERAL INFORMATION

Cameroon is located in Western Africa, bordering the At-

lantic Ocean, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Re-

C A M E R O O N 2 4 5