Courts throughout Cambodia will soon feature information boards aimed at educating the public on court rules, officials said Wednesday.
The information boards are part of a $2-million investment by the US Agency for International Development designed to “strengthen Cambodia’s legal system,” the US embassy said in a statement.
The boards, which will come in sets of three, will post filing fees for civil disputes and the criteria for fee waivers in the case of poverty.
The second board will list defendant rights under Cambodia’s Criminal Procedure Code; and the third board will give the rights of victims, minors and the accused.
“The boards are good signs for us at the courthouse and for our people,” Phnom Penh Court Chief Prosecutor Ouk Savuth said by telephone Wednesday.
“Before, some people would come to the court and not know their rights,” Ouk Savuth said.
“Now that we will have three boards on the campus, people—the suspects, the plaintiffs, everyone, especially the underage citizens—will understand what their rights are.”
The Ministry of Justice unveiled the new program Wednesday with a ceremony where officials said all provincial courts would get the signs by mid-July.
According to the US embassy, the first boards went up at Kandal Provincial court in December.
Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, said the boards will help those who don’t have access to an attorney.
“For the people who have no lawyer, and the people who do not know about the law, it may be useful for them,” he said.
Sok Sam Oeun added that the boards should be viewed as only a first step. “These [boards] are one small part in many needed
improvements.”
(Additional reporting by Saing Soenthrith)
