Traffic passes in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
PHNOM PENH: After the first year of a campaign to accelerate the resolution of court cases and address irregularities in the judicial process, senior officials from the Ministry of Justice have announced significant progress, with more than 80 per cent of the 229,272 cases filed resolved and public satisfaction increased.
Chin Malin, ministry secretary of state, addressed a January 13 press conference, where he highlighted three key outcomes of the campaign.
He explained that, first, the courts have adopted a more efficient working attitude, leading to faster processing times.
Second, public perception of the judiciary has shifted positively, with more citizens praising the courts.
Finally, the number of citizen complaints has seen a significant decrease.
He acknowledged that criticism of the courts had been widespread on social media and in the media before the campaign began.
“The second point,” he continued, “is the change in citizens’ behaviour, mindset and trust. Before the campaign, social media and other platforms were filled with criticism and condemnation of the judiciary.”
Since the campaign’s launch, however, citizens have increasingly expressed gratitude for the courts’ work, with many issuing public messages of thanks – a development that Malin described as unprecedented.
He also noted that complaints from the public have significantly decreased.
“Previously, complaints were filed not only with the ministry but also with other institutions, leaders and through social media. Now, these have substantially reduced,” Malin said.
Courts nationwide handled a total of 229,272 cases, including criminal and civil matters. Of these, 188,942 cases – 82.41 per cent – were resolved.
“This marks the highest resolution rate across all levels of the judiciary, with only 17.59 per cent of cases remaining,” added Keng Somarith, also a ministry secretary of state.
Breaking down the resolved cases, Somarith reported that 101,712 were criminal cases (84.14 per cent resolved), and 87,230 were civil cases (80.43 per cent).
Seng Dina, ministry spokesperson, revealed that 1,221 complaints were filed by citizens regarding irregularities in the courts.
Of these, 40 complaints could not be processed – 31 were withdrawn by the complainants, and 9 lacked sufficient information.
The remaining 1,181 complaints were processed, and 938 cases were resolved, accounting for 79.42 per cent.
“Out of the more than 180,000 cases handled nationwide, citizens filed complaints in 2,213 cases, equivalent to 1.37 per cent of the total,’’ explained Dina.
“Among these, only 33 cases were confirmed to involve genuine irregularities, representing less than 0.02 per cent of the total complaints,” he added.
The campaign also targeted civil registration and traffic cases. By March 31, 2024, all 4,983 pending civil registration cases had been resolved.
Additionally, 51,508 of 52,601 newly filed civil registration cases (97.92 per cent) were resolved.
For traffic-related cases, 100 per cent of the 1,041 cases pending before the campaign began were resolved by November 2024. Among the 5,470 newly filed traffic cases, 4,807 cases (87.88 per cent) were resolved.
The campaign also achieved significant progress in drug-related cases, with courts nationwide resolving 22,022 of 24,651 cases, a resolution rate of 89.34 per cent.
Addressing gang-related cases, Dina reported that from May 23, 2024, to the present, courts and prosecutors nationwide handled 2,324 cases involving 3,650 suspects.
Malin concluded by stating that the campaign remains on schedule to be completed within its two-and-a-half-year timeline, with one and a half years remaining. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
