Justice minister Koeut Rith addressing the closing ceremony of the annual meeting of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia on Oct 16. - Justice ministry
PHNOM PENH: Deputy Prime Minister Koeut Rith, Minister of Justice, has revealed the possibility that minor criminal cases – that do not involve physical harm or security issues – could potentially be resolved through mediation, providing both parties can come to an agreement at the prosecution stage.
Speaking at the Oct 16 closing ceremony of the annual meeting of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia (BAKC) and the announcement of the new BAKC president, Rith explained that the justice ministry is currently discussing amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, as a part of ongoing justice system reforms.
“The ministry is now working on amendments to the Code. We have been holding weekly meetings to consider new a provision – which some of you may not be aware of yet – about the establishment of a mechanism for resolving certain criminal cases through mediation. This will not apply to all criminal cases, only to minor ones,” he said.
“For example, cases involving bounced cheques, often referred to as bad checks, may not require imprisonment. If the parties involved can reach an agreement, the prosecutor who has the authority over the case, has the discretion to suspend the case if reconciliation is achieved under certain conditions. These conditions are currently being developed, but we will still adhere to the principle that serious criminal cases should not be subject to reconciliation,” he added.
The concept of mediation in criminal cases is already a practice in some countries, such as France, where certain types of criminal disputes are settled through mediation or alternative methods. The proposed reform aims to bring similar approaches to the Kingdom’s legal system.
Last November, The National Authority for Alternative Dispute Resolution (NADR) was established, to reduce the backlog of cases in the courts. Any decisions made through the authority are as binding as court verdicts.
Rith noted that if the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code permit mediation in minor criminal cases, the powers of the NADR may need to be adjusted to allow it to handle minor cases.
“We cannot allow reconciliation for serious offenses, such as those involving physical harm, rape, or murder,” he reiterated.
According to the minister, allowing out-of-court reconciliations aims to reduce the adversarial nature of disputes between parties and lessen the current backlog in the courts. Nonetheless, he noted that this mechanism will not apply to cases that affect public security.
Earlier this year, the ministry launched a campaign to address the backlog of cases in the courts across the country and resolve irregularities in the judicial system, including expediting the resolution of drug and traffic-related cases.
In the first nine months of 2024, over 130,000 cases out of more than 180,000 were resolved, equating to over 72 per cent, which Rith hailed as a major success.
He explained that the seventh-term government has made judicial reform a priority, starting with reducing case backlogs, before moving to the next phase, which will focus on improving the quality of case resolutions.
“Once the courts have fewer cases to handle, what should we improve? We will focus on quality. So, the second phase will centre on quality,” he said.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at rights group LICADHO, agreed that minor criminal cases that do not involve physical harm to individuals should be resolved through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
“In the past, defamation cases often involved a desire to win or lose among the dispute parties, with some plaintiffs demanding large sums in compensation. We’ve seen that if large amounts are claimed, even if no prison sentence is imposed, the inability to pay could still result in property seizure or forced auctions,” he said.
“In defamation cases that do not threaten national security or are personal disputes, reconciliation should be possible. Another example is cases of cheque fraud, which are frequently brought to court as criminal matters, resulting in many people being imprisoned. If bad cheque cases can be resolved [without imprisonment], it would be a positive step,” he added.
He believed that resolving cases through the proposed mechanism would reduce conflict among the parties involved, ease prison overcrowding and alleviate the burden on the courts. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
