Over the past 20 years, anti-corruption legislation in Thailand and Indonesia has transformed the two countries’ politics., bringing some rule to an arena where backhanders in the pursuit of foreign investment was commonplace. In Cambodia, the World Bank and the European Union have repeatedly called on the government to introduce an anti-corruption law that would provide the basic structure to stop corruption and create a mechanism to prosecute those engaged in corrupt acts. 

Currently Cambodia is listed as number 158 on Transparency International’s 2008 index, which marks it down as the most corrupt nation in Asia after Myanmar. Lawmakers, government officials and foreign investors hope the kingdom will drag itself off the bottom of that list by debating and enacting the law that has been many years in the making.

The draft of such a law passes through 12 stages before it becomes officially active, according to the Clean Hand campaign against corruption, which is funded by the US agency for international development (USAid) and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida). This process has been ongoing over the past 10 years with drafts of the law being submitted to parliament then returned to the government for further review and alteration.

In December 2004, the government promised it would have an international-standard law by the end of the following year. Described by Hun Sen, the prime minister, as effective only if it was a “flawless law”, the draft was meant to be presented for consultation in August the following year. Cambodia’s legislators and lawmakers then reviewed numerous details of it and debated final changes. Cheam Yeap of the Cambodian People’s party was quoted as saying on the Internet Parliament Talk Show that: “The law of corruption will be adopted in the first quarter of 2010.”

On December 11, 2009, the council of ministers finally approved its nine chapters and 57 articles. The prime minister Hun Sen then sent it, along with a statement of cause, to the president of the national assembly Heng Samrin for ratification. According to a statement by the council of ministers the new law is: “part of the reform programme of the Royal Government for good governance, strengthening the rule of law, sustainable development and poverty reduction.” The statement went on to outline the three main strategies inherent in the law, which are built on every person working with or within the government having to declare their financial assets.

The strategies are designed to curb corrupt acts through effective legal measures, education and prevention with the participation and support of the public. Anybody found guilty of breaking the law would be imprisoned for 15 years.

In an article posted by CAAI News Media, the former head of the centre for social development Chea Vannath was quoted as saying: “Victory depends on the law and what is in it. If the law focuses on prevention, education and awareness promotion, the implementation will be based on that.”

However, some members of the political opposition are worried that if they are not given enough time to review the law it may be passed without much change and used as “a tool to prosecute low-ranking officers and those whom the powerful don’t support”, claims president of Cambodia’s Human Rights party Kem Sokha.

The next hurdle the law must clear is for Heng Samrin of the national assembly to pass it for a thorough review by the national assembly commission. With five stages still to go, the commission reviews the proposed law and does one of three things: recommends that the assembly not consider the legislation; requests that the assembly decides whether to consider the legislation; or uses its option of requesting that the assembly considers the legislation on an emergency basis.

If the law is passed by the assembly, it will be presented to Chea Sim, president of the senate, and then follow a remarkably similar pattern to the steps taken by the national assembly. The senate and national assembly then exchange final alterations to the law that by now is on the verge of being enacted. Once its content is approved by all institutions involved, the president of the national assembly presents the now unalterable proposed law to the constitutional council.

In the penultimate phase of the legislative process, the constitutional council  reviews the law’s chapters and articles and has the power of interpreting whether any legislation passed by the two houses of government is constitutional. If the law passes this final test, it is taken to the Royal Palace where King Norodom Sihamoni signs a decree which makes the proposed document an enacted law and, for the first time since the break-up of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea in 1989 and 1990, Cambodia will have its anti-corruption law.

A step the international community will applaud and the Khmer people will have good reason to celebrate.