The Khmer Times reports……
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/29045/four-run-for-bar-association-president/
Four attorneys were selected this month by the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia (BAKC) to be candidates in the election on October 16 to choose the bar’s next president.
Soun Visal, attorney-at-law with the Khmer Apsara Law Firm, told Khmer Times yesterday that the BAKC Council had selected the four lawyers, following the criteria of the council, to be candidates in the BAKC’s upcoming presidential election.
Mr. Visal added that the selected candidates were himself and three other lawyers – Nou Chantha, Hem Socheat and Chhy Sambat.
Mr. Visal also said that according to the statutes of the BAKC, those selected as candidates for president had to be registered with the bar for at least three years and must never have lost the right to vote due to any disciplinary reason.
“The election is organized every two years by the General Assembly of the BAKC to select its president,” said Mr. Visal.
He added that the election would be by secret ballot and would be uninominal, or one ballot per member. Voting might be held twice, with the first vote being based on the absolute majority of all bar members, and the second being based on a simple majority of the members who are present. In the event two candidates receive the same amount of votes, the oldest lawyer would then be selected.
When asked what his agenda was to reform the BAKC to help contribute to the independence of the Cambodian judiciary, Mr. Visal declined to comment, saying that by law he couldn’t discuss his agenda before the official election campaign period began.
Bun Honn, the current bar president, previously said that the bar’s elections were unbiased.
“Each BAKC election is very fair and equitable. Transparency plays a crucial role, because the ballot box is glass; everyone can see the ballots from the start to the end of the election,” said Mr. Honn.
The president also said the ballots would be publicly counted as soon as the election is over. The ballots would be count manually and the result would be verified by the BAKC’s computerized system.
However, according to a report from the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, published last September: “BAKC operates in a highly politicized manner and is widely regarded as a biased institution, fundamentally loyal to the CPP…rather than to its members and the legal profession.”
The report added: “BAKC does not offer a robust defense to anyone who is not a member of the CPP…often neglecting entirely to defend members of the CNRP. Many expressed the view that the BAKC presently operates as a de facto part of the Cambodian government, rather than as an independent association established in order to protect the interests of Cambodian lawyers.”
The BAKC was established in 1995 under Article 8 of the Cambodian Law on the Bar.
Later, this law was replaced by the BAKC’s own regulations in the matter of administrative organization and functioning.
The BAKC’s internal regulations say the organization of the bar consists of the General Assembly and the BAKC Council, which acts as the bar’s governing board.
