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24 Jan 2000, Cambodian Labour Court update
Dear Friends,
Find below an update on the efforts to establish an independent
labour court in Cambodia (see earlier appeal for action on this
initiative circulated Jan. 10th). This information was provided
by the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, please
contact them for any further information <ftuwkc@yahoo.com>
(more info on FTUWKC at THE
VOICE OF CAMBODIAN WORKERS)
Fax or mail letters in support of an independent labour court to:
Mr. Ith Sam Heng
Minister of Social Affairs, Labor,Vocational Traning and Youth Rehabilitation
#68 Norodom Boulevard
Khan Daun Penh
Phnom Penh
Kingdom of Cambodia
And to the Cambodian Embassy in your own country
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In late November and December 1999, the Ministry of Labour, with
the assistance of (and under pressure from) the ILO began drafting
a bill on the creation of a labour court. The Ministry announced
this and held a one day tripartite seminar in order to show their
current draft and get opinions on it. Thus, you may receive a response
from the Ministry or the French embassy that the government is taking
action. However, the Free Trade Union is still continuing with its
campaign because we believe that there is no significant commitment
to the creation of this court for the following reasons:
- The Ministry of Justice has not been a part of this process,
and was, in fact not informed of the existence of the draft bill
until the seminar. As far as we know, the Ministry has made no
commitment to see this through or to assist in the drafting of
this bill.
- The bill is still far from complete, and its drafting appears
to have been more to please the ILO in order to continue receiving
assistance. For instance, according to the draft bill presented
at the seminar, one judge, a workers' representative and an employers'
representative will preside over the court. However, there was
no provision detailing how those three people would make decisions.
When one participant asked whether decisions had to be made unanimously
or by majority, the representative from the Ministry seemed unsure.
Eventually he stated that it could be by majority but he was unable
to answer whether that meant that the worker and employer representatives
could overrule a judge.
- As far as we know, there is no deadline for when the draft
is to be finished and presented to the National Assembly.
- As far as we know, there are no financial resources to actually
put the court system into place and to train judges and workers
and employers representatives.
Thus, the Free Trade Union is still very concerned that unless
there is continued international pressure, a proper draft bill will
never be finished, nor will financial assistance be found and in
short the court will never be created. So we certainly welcome your
support, and we leave it up to you, how you wish to incorporate
this information.
Sincerely,
Katja Hemmerich
FTUWKC
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