A large delegation of judicial officers from the Supreme Court and other jurisdictions were scheduled to set off this morning on an excursion to Preah Vihear temple to present frontline soldiers with gifts and money.
Most officers of the Supreme Court, the Appeal Court and Phnom Penh Municipal Court, as well as participants from a few provincial courts, will make the two-day trip to Cambodia’s northern border, according to several court officials.
The three major courts will be running today on a skeleton staff.
Supreme Court Prosecutor-General Chea Leang, who was involved in organizing the trip, said the group would spend Saturday visiting Preah Vihear temple and offer money, equipment and food to soldiers stationed there.
“Visiting the military at Preah Vihear temple encourages them to protect Cambodian territory because we are all Cambodian,” she said yesterday. “This action will not affect government politics because we are going there in our role as Cambodians.”
The participating court officers pooled their personal money to buy the gifts, Ms Leang added.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court Deputy Prosecutor Sok Roeun said the visit was arranged because of the intense bond between Cambodians.
“This visit is just part of the romance between us and the military, who have the same Cambodian blood,” he said. “This is just to visit with the military there—it is not wrong, and there is no law that says visiting the military at the border is wrong.”
Although the total number of court officers who will travel to Preah Vihear this weekend is unknown, around 100 people from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court will be going, according to a municipal court official who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Independent political observer Chea Vannath said yesterday that the judiciary’s trip was just the latest manifestation of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s campaign to instill a “culture of sharing” in government workers by encouraging them to donate to the troops on the Thai border.
“The culture of sharing was very informal before, but now I think they need to strengthen the military, to upgrade the military, and so this kind of recommendation from the prime minister is much, much stronger than before,” she said.
Last week, the premier inaugurated an initiative to set up formal patronage relationships between frontline military units, private companies and government offices in an effort to encourage donations to troops on the border.
Ms Vannath suggested that the “sharing” element of the visit and business-military alliances was a necessary substitute for funds that wealthier nations obtain by taxation and tax-deductible donations.
“If a taxation system is not in place, then a culture of sharing is necessary,” she said. “Institutions are not prepared to handle taxation-there is no system to do that, so the only way now is to create a culture of sharing.” She admitted that the arrangement was unconventional.
“The culture of sharing is not specified in the Constitution,” she said. “The judiciary, the executive, all practice the culture of sharing.”
According to Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan, the premier’s call for more sharing is intended to extend to everyone. “Yes, everyone: even the courts, even the lawyers, if they are Cambodian,” he said. “They still live in the culture. So there’s nothing wrong with that.”
It is a “Cambodian tradition” to pool money and donate it to soldiers, Mr Siphan added.
Sok Sam Oeun, executive director of the free legal aid Cambodian Defenders Project, agreed there was no conflict of interest in giving gifts to the nation’s soldiers. “It’s no problem, it’s normal,” he said. “I think this does not impact on judicial independence.”
