Name: TOEM Reasey

Session: Evening
ID: 60160548

Describe the different types of courts in Cambodia

Each country has their own law to control their country, also Cambodia. The object of the
law is to determine the organization of judiciary at all sectors and level within adjudicate court of
the Kingdom of Cambodia and also determine the competence of the court at all sectors and levels.
At present, the Cambodia judiciary consist of the Court of First Instance, Appeal Court and
Supreme Court. The court of the first instance is the lower court and the appeal court and supreme
court is the higher court. Each court has different option and we will discuss below.

The Court Of The First Instance is the first level of tribunal located in the capital of Phnom
Penh and at different province in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The court of the first instance shall
be divided in special courts. The Court Of The First Instance is the jurisdiction of the special court
or an extraordinary tribunal established by specific law. The Court Of The First Instance shall be
consist of: President, Vice-President of the court, judge, court clerk, administrative officer and
other legal specified officer who work at the court of the first instance. Every Court Of First
Instance shall be compromised of specialized court as follow: Civil court, Criminal Court,
commercial court, and Labour court. However, these specialized court have not yet been created
and the current practice is for the competent court of the respective provinces and the capital court
to hear all cases. When necessary the court may create other specialized court. Such creation shall
be made by Royal Decree. Each specialized court shall render its decision autonomously within
its jurisdiction, in the name of the court to which it belongs. And the meeting of The Court of the
First Instance shall be conducted under the chairmanship of the President Of The Court Of The
First Instance and shall report about working results and to determine the administrative of the
court of the first instance.

The Court of Appeal is the second level tribunal. The court of appeal consists of the Phnom
Penh of Appeal and each regional Court of Appeal whose determination of territorial jurisdiction
of regional court of appeal shall be made by Royal Decree. The Court of Appeal shall be
compromised of: President, Vice-President of the court, judge, court clerk, administrative officer
and other legal specified officer who work at the court of the appeal. The Court of Appeal shall
have chamber as follows: Civil Camber, Criminal Camber, commercial camber, and Labour
camber. When necessary, other specialized chamber of the court of appeal may be established by
a Royal Decree. Each chamber renders its judgement autonomously within its jurisdiction, in the
name of the court of appeal to which it belongs. Each chamber, when hearing the cases, shall
consist of three Judges, one of whom is the Chairman in accordance with the applicable
procedures. In the event that a case is transferred back by Supreme Court, the court of appeal shall
shall adjudicate the case with five Judges all of whom should not have previously adjudicated on
the same case. The Court of Appeal has the jurisdiction to adjudicate all cases within its territorial
jurisdiction, except as otherwise provided by law to fall under the jurisdiction of other Courts.

The Supreme Court is the highest Court in Cambodia and located in the capital Phnom
Penh. It has jurisdiction to adjudicate all cases within its territorial jurisdiction in accordance with
applicable procedures which shall be comprised of: President, Vice-President of the court, judge,
court clerk, administrative officer and other legal specified officer who work at the Supreme court
Moreover, recently, based on the Law on the Amendment of the Law on Political Party, the Supreme
Court has jurisdiction, as a Court of First and Final Instance, over cases filed by the Ministry of
Interior in case it finds that a political party has committed a serious offence. According to the law,
the Supreme Court consists of Criminal Chamber; Civil Chamber; Commercial Chamber; Labor
and other specialized Chambers to be created by Royal Decree when necessary. Each Chamber
renders its judgment(s) autonomously within its jurisdictional competence, in the name of the
Supreme Court to which it belongs. Each Chamber, when hearing the cases, shall consist of five
Judges, one of whom is the Chairman in accordance with the applicable procedures.

In conclusion, the court of the Kingdom of Cambodia shall be classified as: Court of the
first instance, court of the appeal and supreme court. The purpose of this law is to ensure the
independence of the judiciary, preserve the impartiality and protect the rights and freedoms of
citizen, and ensure that justice is delivered in all types of cases in order to increase confidence
among the general population and to contribute to the strengthening of society.