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VOLUME

LEGAL SYSTEMS
OF THE WORLD
/I Political, Social, aiu) Cultural Encyclopedia

J -~
"

H E R B E RT M. K R I T Z E R,
EDITOR
Copyright © 2002 by Herbert M. Kritzer

All 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, and cultural


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 of '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." 81 Judicature 250-255 (1998). Reprinted
in Crime and Justice International, November.

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Manufactured in the United States of America
CAMBODIA 1955, King Sihanouk abdicated the throne in favor of this
father, Norodom Suramaritr, so that he might involve him-
GENERAL INFORMATION self in national politics. At this stage in Cambodian history,
Cambodia (Kampuchea), officially the Kingdom of Cam- the 1947 constitution relegated the role of the monarch to
bodia, is a country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered on the that of symbolic rather than actual power—it became a
east and the southeast by Vietnam, on the northwest by constitutional monarchy. For Sihanouk to play an actual
Laos, on the west and northwest by Thailand, and on the political role, he had to abdicate the throne, as a monarch
southwest by the Gulf of Siam and Thailand. From north could not also participate in the political governance of the
to south Cambodia spans 450 kilometers (280 miles) and state. Sihanouk became die country's political leader, and
from east to west about 580 kilometers (360 miles). Its die country was under his authoritarian rule until he was
total area is approximately 182,000 square kilometers ousted from his position as prime minister/head of state by
(70,000 square miles). The central part of the country con- Lon Nol in a military coup on March 18, 1970.
sists of plains spreading out from the Mekong River delta. Following the 1970 coup, the country became em-
To the north are the Damgrek Mountains. To the south are broiled in civil war. Cambodian Communist forces, widely
Cardamon (Kravanh) Mountains, and the Damrei Moun- known as the Khmer Rouge, gained increasing power both
tains form the highland area covering the region between by taking over Cambodian territory and through popular
the great freshwater lake Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Siam. support and support by Shanouk. After his ouster, Si-
Cambodia's population in 1998, according to official hanouk allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, thus boost-
figures, was 11,437,657, with females comprising 52 per- ing the influence and popularity of the Communist move-
cent of the population. One-quarter of Cambodian ment. The nation was further destabilized because of the
women are heads of household. Approximately 42 per- United States' extension of the Vietnam War into Cambo-
cent of the population is under the age of fifteen, and 50 dia in pursuit of enemy guerrillas. Carpet bombing of the
percent is under the age of eighteen. The vast majority of countryside killed some 700,000 Cambodians.
the people, 85 percent, live and work in rural areas. Out On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over the
of this rural population, 83 percent of women and 72 country. Soon they established the most repressive and
percent of men work in agriculture. brutal regime in Cambodia's history. They emptied the
Cambodia has twenty-one different ethnic minorities. cities and forced the urban population into the country-
Seventeen are ethnic tribes; the other four are Thais, Chi- side. In their reign of terror about 1.7 million people
nese, Vietnamese, and Laotians. died; more than 100,000 were executed; and the rest per-
The rate of annual population growth, 2.5 percent, is ished from diseases, malnutrition, and exhaustion.
the highest in the region. Population density is at 64 per- In 1979, as a result of long-simmering border disputes
sons per square kilometer. The rapid population growth and with military assistance from the Soviet Union, Viet-
affects the growth of gross domestic product (GDP), nam invaded Cambodia and drove the Khmer Rouge
which was at 4 percent per year in 1999. In 2000, GDP from power. In their place, the Vietnamese army installed
per capita was US$274. a group of ex—Khmer Rouge officers, including Hun Sen,
The official language of Cambodia is Khmer. The cap- the current prime minister of Cambodia. Remnants of
ital city is Phnom Penh. the Khmer Rouge regrouped along the border with Thai-
land. Other non-Communist groups also organized resis-
HISTORY tance to the Vietnamese-backed regime.
Cambodia today is a small remnant of what was once a The resistance continued for ten years. In September
large Khmer empire that peaked in the twelfth and thir- 1989, Vietnam pulled out its troops, and in October 1991,
teenth centuries. Archeological evidence is that Khmer the four warring factions—the Khmer National Liberation
habitation in Southeast Asia dates back about 600,000 Front, FUNCINPEC (an acronym of the French name for
years and Khmer civilization may have begun as early as the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral,
two thousand years ago. Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia), the State of Cam-
Following the demise of the Khmer empire in the bodia (representing the incumbent Vietnamese-backed
mid-fifteenth century, Cambodia experienced invasions government), and Democratic Kampuchea (known as the
by its neighbors as well as internal conflicts. In 1863, Khmer Rouge)—reached a United Nations—brokered
France established a protectorate over the country. peace agreement in Paris. Under this agreement, Cambo-
Cambodia promulgated its first modern constitution in dia was put under the administration of the United Na-
1947, establishing democratic governance and a multiparty tions Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). One
system largely modeled on the constitution of the French of UNTAC's main duties was to administer general elec-
Fourth Republic. Cambodia gained its independence in tions held in 1993. The factions converted into political
1953 under the leadership of King Norodom Sihanouk. In parties to compete in the election. Despite political vio-

240 CAMBODIA
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lence and intimidation by the Cambodian People's Party ing from 225 C.E., show that Cambodia (called Funan)
(CPP), representing the former Communist regime, and had a system of laws modeled on the Indian system. The
by the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, approximately 90 percent Cambodian system, which survived until the thirteenth
of Cambodians voted. The royalist FUNCINPEC party, century, as reported by another Chinese diplomat, in-
headed by Prince Norodom Ranarridh, won the election. cluded trials by ordeal such as throwing the accused to
The CPP refused to accept FUNCINPEC's victory wild animals. Trials by ordeal exist unofficially in the
and threatened to plunge the country back into civil war country to this day, although they are very rare.
if power was not shared with them. Ultimately, a power-
sharing agreement was reached between Ranariddh, who Angkor
became first minister, and Hun Sen, vice president of the The stability of the Khmer Empire (Angkor), beginning
CPP, who became second prime minister. in 802, allowed for reform and elaboration of the legal
In 1997, Sen staged a coup in which hundreds of system. The ancient Khmer society was hierarchical; per-
FUNCINPEC members and members of opposition par- sonal status flowed from function or position held in the
ties were killed or injured. Ranarridh was ousted as first administration, titles, names, and wealth. The system of
prime minister. Hun Sen of the CPP currently heads the ownership of land was well developed.
government of Cambodia. The court of law was called vmh sabha or dhamad-
hikarona. There were central or municipal courts of law
LEGAL SYSTEM called vrah sabha nagara and provincial or territorial
courts called vrah sabha sruk. The sovereign was the ulti-
Pre-Angkorian Era mate authority of law and had the power to grant
Details about the legal system of the pre-Angkorian era amnesty or pardon.
are sparse. The memoirs of two Chinese diplomats, dat- The officials associated with the administration of jus-

CAMBODIA 241
tice were given the title sabhapati (later sopheathipdey), In 1915, the French took complete control over the
president of the court of the presiding judges; guna- Cambodian judiciary. In the early 1920s, indigenous laws
dosadarsi, inspector of qualities and defects; svat vrah were replaced by French laws and the French legal system.
dharmasastra, reciter of the sacred legal text; vyavaharad- A civil code, a law on judicial organization, a judicial per-
hikarin or ranvan, usher; care, emissary; vrah sarvad- sonnel statute, and a law on the control of the judiciary
hikarin, judicial land surveyor; mahasresthi or were promulgated. A court of petty crimes Sala Lahu,
sresthimukhya, chief of merchants; ta cam likhita kamvu- court of first instance (Sala Dambaung or Sala Lukhun in
vansa nu anga vrah rajakaryya, records keeper; Pratyaya or Phnom Penh), the Court of Appeal (Sala Outor), and the
rajapratyaya, royal confidante or representative; and Supreme Court (Sala Vinichay) were established. Book I,
pratyaya mrtakadhana or amrtakadha.no,, administrator of previously promulgated, was recodified and came into
property received by inheritance. force on July 1, 1920. It was now divided into four books
Indian legal textbooks such the Manu, the Dhar- regulating person, property, obligations (contracts and
masastras, and other sastras or law were studied and prac- torts), and procedure. By royal ordinance of April 5,
ticed in the royal courts. Legal terminology, both that 1948, an administrative chamber was established with the
used for speaking in court and that used in writing, was jurisdiction to hear administrative matters. Appeals are
mainly in Sanskrit, but Khmer was used in descriptions submitted to the Council of Ministers. In 1953, an ad-
of material facts. ministrative appeal tribunal was established to hear ap-
The litigation process commenced with a complaint peals. This entire legal system was abolished in April 1975
by the plaintiff, a response by the defendant, and exami- when the Khmer Rouge took power.
nation by the court. The steps in the proceeding were After the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, which ousted
also modeled on the vyavahara matyka. The procedure of the Khmer Rouge regime, and the installment of a pup-
examination of witnesses (saksin) and evidence was also pet regime officially known as the People's Republic of
modeled after the Indian practice of the time. Kampuchea, a legal system was reestablished, but mod-
In the late sixteenth century, in the aftermath of inva- eled on that of the Soviet Union. Despite constitutional
sion by the Siamese, which resulted in looting and de- reform in 1993, the Soviet system and practice still de-
struction of legal texts and records, King Chey Chettha fine, in part, the Cambodian legal system today.
focused on law reform. He created a royal law commis-
sion and appointed six people to revise and collate legal LEGAL CONCEPTS
texts that remained in the country. As a result, twelve The Cambodian legal system has suffered as a result of
volumes of law were promulgated. Two of the most im- the various political influences since Cambodian inde-
portant laws were the Kram Sopheathipdey or Law of the pendence in 1953—authoritarianism, military dictator-
Presiding Judges and Kram Chor or Crimes Act. The ship, the total annihilation of the French-based legal sys-
death penalty was abolished, and the severity of sentences tem by the Khmer Rouge, and the introduction of
was reduced. Soviet-style communism under the Vietnamese-backed
regime established in 1979. The current regime, which
French Influence on the Cambodian Legal System took power in 1993, bears many hallmarks of Soviet-style
In 1863, Cambodia became a French protectorate. By the practice.
French-Cambodian treaty of 1884, a French administra- Only ten lawyers remained in Cambodia after the
tion of justice was established, under the supervision of a Khmer Rouge were ousted. Thousands of lawyers were
French resident. By royal ordinance of February 7, 1902, killed, died of starvation or disease, or fled the country.
the provincial court of first instance, the Sala Khet, and a The legal infrastructure was also destroyed and has had to
court of appeal, the Sala Outor, were established on the be rebuilt from scratch.
basis of Cambodian law. A royal ordinance of June 26, As a result of 1993 elections sponsored by the United
1903, established the Supreme Court, the Sala Vinichay. Nations, Cambodia adopted a new constitution. The
At this stage, indigenous laws were still applicable. By 1993 constitution stipulates liberal democracy and a
royal ordinance of September 7, 1910, formal law courses multiparty system. It provides for a separation of powers
were established in Khmer for judicial officials. between the three branches of government—the legisla-
Royal commissions were created by a royal ordinances ture, executive, and judiciary. The legislature is composed
of May 5 and August 11, 1905, and by ordinances of of the National Assembly and the Senate. The constitu-
September 3, and October 21, 1908. The royal ordi- tion states that a free-market economy is the foundation
nance of November 20, 1911, the Code of Criminal In- of state's economic system. It restores the monarchy, but
structions and Judicial Organization, Penal Code, Book with the stipulation that the monarch reigns but does not
I, of the French Civil Code were promulgated and came rule. It recognizes and respects human rights as defined in
into force on July 1, 1912. the U.N. Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human

242 CAMBODIA
Rights, and all other treaties concerning human rights, tor general attached to Court of Appeal; and three judges
women's rights, and children's rights. It also provides for selected from among all sitting judges. All members ex-
due process of law and prohibits enacting laws with cept the king are political appointees of the ruling CPP.
retroactive force. It provides for checks and balances on The Law on Political Parties allows members of the coun-
the branches of government. It allows citizens of both cil to maintain their party ties and engage in such politi-
sexes over twenty-five years of age to run for office. cal activities as campaigning during elections. Without a
Despite the liberal terms of the constitution, in reality clearly defined term of office and a requirement of legal
Cambodia is dominated by a powerful executive and a qualifications, the members are vulnerable to political
judiciary composed of generally unqualified political manipulation, and the ability of the Supreme Council to
appointees. ensure judicial independence comes under question.
The new law assigned to the council powers beyond
JUDICIARY those permitted by the constitution. The council has, for
Article 109 of the constitution enshrines, for the first example, not only the power to discipline judges and
time in Cambodian history, the principle of the indepen- prosecutors but also to remove and dismiss them.
dence of the judiciary. The judiciary comprises four sep-
arate legal entities: the Constitutional Council, the Constitutional Council
Supreme Council of Magistracy, the courts, and prosecu- The 1993 constitution provides for the creation of a
tors. The court system is divided into courts of first in- Constitutional Council to interpret laws passed by the
stance, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. National Assembly and to rule on their constitutionality.
The judiciary has the constitutional power to review Although the constitution fails to assert that this council
the executive branch. Citizens are entitled to lodge com- is to be independent from any other governmental body,
plaints with the court for judicial redress of violations of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the
the law by the executive, by organs of the executive, or by Constitutional Council does so.
members of a particular organ. It is also empowered to de- In providing for a constitutional council, the Cambo-
termine administrative law matters, which traditionally dian constitution of 1993 mirrors the French constitu-
were the competence of the executive, the administrative tion of 1958, which included the constitutional review
chamber, which is a separate administrative law structure body in order to curb excesses of legislative or executive
with the Council of State as the supreme court. The 1953 power. This is an example of appropriating French law
constitution provided for the establishment of a council of and institutions where they may not be appropriate to the
state, perhaps to act as the highest administrative law re- Cambodian context, where the executive has always
view body; but an organic law was never passed and so this dominated the other branches.
body was never created. Accordingly, not a single admin- The Constitutional Council consists of nine members,
istrative law case has been heard in Cambodia since 1970. each appointed for a nineyear term. The terms are stag-
gered, so that one-third of the council members are re-
Supreme Council of the Magistracy placed every three years. Three of the members are ap-
To guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the 1993 pointed by the king, three by the National Assembly, and
constitution provides for the establishment of an inde- three by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy. The
pendent body, the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, president of the Constitutional Council is appointed by
with the power to appoint, transfer, suspend, and remove the members of the council. The president, who must be
judges and prosecutors. In December 1994, the National a CPP member, has the prevailing vote in case of ties.
Assembly adopted the Law on the Organization and the There is no guarantee of tenure—the king, the Na-
Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy. tional Assembly, or the Supreme Council of the Magis-
During debate of the draft law, the minister of justice, tracy can remove a member at will before the member's
who had previously acknowledged that the constitution nine-year term is completed—although such a guarantee
prohibited him from sitting on the council, insisted on would facilitate members' impartiality and independence.
being included as a member of it. Over opposition, and Neither is there a requirement that members have legal
with the Constitutional Council not yet formed to review qualifications or undergo legal training following appoint-
the constitutionality of his membership, the law was ment. Rather, any Cambodian with a degree in law, ad-
passed and the justice minister became a member. ministration, diplomacy, or economics and at least fifteen
The Supreme Council of the Magistracy is composed years of work experience to be appointed to the council.
of nine members: the king, who presides over the council; The jurisdiction of the Constitutional Council is
the minister of justice; the president of the Supreme broader than that of its French counterpart. It automati-
Court; the prosecutor general attached to the Supreme cally reviews the constitutionality of "organic laws, Na-
Court; the President of the Court of Appeal; the prosecu- tional Assembly's Internal Regulations, amendments to

CAMBODIA 243
the organic law and National Assembly's Internal Regula- Legal Structure of Cambodia Courts
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 Constitutional Council
National Assembly or one-tenth of its members, or the
prime minister. Ordinary Cambodians may also seek re-
view of any law by petitioning the president of National
Assembly or an assembly member. In addition, the law
grants litigating parties the right to submit for review by
the council any provision of a law at issue in the litigation
or any administrative decision that affects the party's
rights or liberties. Applications for such review are to be
lodged at the Supreme Court. Arguably, this provision is
in violation of article 109 of the constitution, 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 (regulations), and international
treaties. The council therefore serves as a check against The Military Court was established in 1981 under
abuses by the legislative branch while allowing the exec- Decree-Law No. 05 (12/08/81), which gives the court ju-
utive to enact decrees with impunity. risdiction to try members of the military, civilians who
It appears that it was the intention of the National As- work in the Ministry of National Defense, and civilians
sembly that the council be an independent body. The who have committed military offenses with members of
Constitutional Council Act requires members to be im- the military.
partial and to recuse themselves from consideration of
any case that presents a conflict of interest. Deliberations Specialized Judicial Bodies
and votes must be secret. Members are prohibited from Cambodia is in a process of setting up a special tribunal,
making public statements. Like the Supreme Council of officially known as the Extraordinary Chamber in the
the Magistracy, however, the Constitutional Council is Courts of Cambodia. The draft law, called the Law on
dominated by the CPP. Six of the council's nine members the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the
belong to the ruling party, and only a simple 5—4 major- Courts of Cambodia for the Prosecution of Crimes Com-
ity vote is required for a decision. There are no council mitted under the Period of Democratic Kampuchea
members from the other political parties. The CPP mem- ("The Khmer Rouge Law"), was passed by the National
bers of the council are encouraged to maintain their party Assemby in January 2001 and has been promulgated. As
affiliation, although council rules require that a leave of of November 2001, the next steps for setting up the tri-
absence be granted if a member wants to work on an elec- bunal had not been taken by the Cambodian govern-
tion campaign or seek elective office. ment. Some international observers are concerned about
An example of the politicization of the council is that an apparent reluctance on the part of the Cambodian
it declined to hear eighty-five complaints regarding re- government to set up the tribunal after years of discus-
cent elections lodged by an opposition party, the Sam sion with the United Nations and the international com-
Rainsy Party. These complaints were rejected outright by munity.
clerks and were never reviewed by council members. This tribunal, if successfully established, will have the
jurisdiction to hear charges of genocide, crimes against
Structure of the Judicial System humanity, and war crimes levied against Khmer Rouge
In civil and criminal matters, cases are initiated at the court members who are believed responsible for the death of
of first instance, the municipal court, or the provincial about 1.7 million people during their period of their rule,
court. Appeal is a matter of right in both civil and crimi- from April 17, 1975, to January 7, 1979.
nal matters, and the Court of Appeal will hear an appeal de
novo on both factual and legal issues. A further right of ap- National Elections Committee
peal, on legal grounds, can be made to the Supreme Court, The National Elections Committee (NEC) is a body es-
the highest court for general cases unrelated to constitu- tablished in 1997 to administer the election of members
tional law issues. The structure of the Cambodian court of the National Assembly and commune elections and to
system is shown in the accompanying figure. adjudicate electoral disputes. The Constitutional Council

244 CAMBODIA
is its final appellate body. Although the NEC was sup- Cambodia Judiciary
posed to be an impartial body composed of representa-
tives of all parties that contested the 1993 elections, in re- Category Judges Prosecutors Clerks
ality its ten members were appointed by the CPP.
Constitutional Council 9 15

Staffing Supreme Court 9 4 59


There is no requirement for members of the judiciary to Appeal Court 10 4 43
have a law degree or a particular level of legal training.
Provincial/Municipal Court 89 46 372
The Royal Faculty of Law in Phnom Penh, closed in
1975, reopened only in 1993, and its first class graduated Military Court 11 4 36
in 1997. Total in Judiciary 128* 58 525
As of 2001, only two of nine Supreme Court justices 'Includes 7 judges in the Ministry of Justice.
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, practices. The government, dominated by the CPP, does
two had graduated from high school, one from primary not regard legal reform as a priority. Nevertheless, Cam-
school, one held a teacher's certificate, and one was a bodia has moved beyond the years of brutal repression
graduate of the Ecole Royale d'Administration. and is beginning to rebuild social and governmental in-
Of the Court of Appeal judges, six held Bachelor of stitutions and the national economy. The 1993 constitu-
Law degrees, and one had a bachelor's degree in another tion provides for the protection of human rights and for
field. Of the remaining three judges, two had graduated the establishment of the democratic institutions. Al-
from high school and one from primary school. though not always followed in practice, the constitution
The accompanying figure shows the number and dis- can supply the legal framework for the gradual evolution
position of judicial personnel in Cambodia. of Cambodia's political system from authoritarianism to
democracy. The determining factor, however, will be
LEGAL PROFESSION whether future governments of Cambodia accept the
After twenty years without a law regulating the legal pro- principle of democracy and the rule of law.
fession, the Law on the Bar was adopted on June 15, Bora Touch
1995. As a result, the Bar Association was established on
See also France; Vietnam; Laos
October 6, 1995. On that day, thirty-eight lawyers were References and further reading
admitted to legal practice before the Court of Appeal. Chakravarti, Adhir. 1978. The Sdok Kak Thorn Inscriptions: A
The new members later elected a president of the associ- Study in Indo-Khmer Civilization. Part 1. Calcutta: Sanskrit
ation and nine members of the Bar Council, a body that College.
regulates the association as a whole. The Bar Council has Donovan, Dolores A., Sidney Jones, and Robert]. Muscat.
the power to grant and revoke licenses to practice law. As 1993. Rebuilding Cambodia: Human Resources, Human
Rights, and Law.
of 2001, there are 221 members of the bar, of whom only
Initial Report of States Parties Due in 1993: Cambodia.
176 hold a license to practice and are practicing. 23/09/98. CCPR/C/81/Add.l2 (State Party Report).
Apart from its responsibility to train, professionalize, Cambodia's Report to the International Covenant on Civil
and discipline its members, the Bar Association plays an and Political Rights Committee.
integral role in establishing democracy and the rule of law Marks, Stephen. 1994. "The New Cambodian Constitution:
in Cambodia. Unfortunately, the association has become From Civil War to Democracy." Columbia Human Rights
politicized and has been accused of corruption. Its mem- Law Review 26(5): 45.
bers have been known to act in an unprofessional man- Sok, Siphana, and Denoran Sarin. 1998. The Legal System of
Cambodia.
ner as brokers between judicial officials and their clients. Ricklefs, M. C. 1967. "Land and the Law in the Epigraphy of
There are two internationally funded legal aid organi- Tenth-Century Cambodia." Journal of Asian Studies 26(3):
zations in Cambodia that have been providing free legal 411.
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 two organizations. CAMEROON
IMPACT OF THE LAW GENERAL INFORMATION
Cambodia has a civil law tradition, but the administra- Cameroon is located in Western Africa, bordering the At-
tion of justice still bears the hallmark of the old Soviet lantic Ocean, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Re-

CAMEROON 245

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