The Samrith Law Group Offers Free Defense Services to Poor People and Reduces Dependence on External Aid – Tuesday, 24.8.2010
Posted on 25 August 2010. Filed under: Week 679 | Tags: ausaid, boeng kak lake, cambodian government, commitment, construction, court system, defense lawyer, human rights, land dispute, laos, legal system, luxury wood, ngos, roads, Samrith law group, tax, thaksin shinawatra, usaid, vietnam, wildlife |
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"They provide legal assistance, but they are not a non-government organizations. They accept work for profit, but they are not working just for money. The Samrith Law Group, the first institution in Cambodia providing legal services to serve public interests, is opening a new page for profit-based lawyers' groups, saying that the reliance on funding from donors [for free legal services to the poor] can be reduced.
[This long article has been abbreviated – abbreviated sections are marked by three dots …]
"The manager of this lawyers' group, established in 2008, Mr. Ith Meakthura, said, 'We want to show to other lawyers in Cambodia that even though we are private lawyers, we can help poor communities.'
"As the Cambodian government cannot offer legal assistance services, this role is normally left to a handful of non-government organizations that depend on international aid agencies, such as USAID and AusAid to support their operations.
"Until early this year, two major organizations of Cambodia offering legal aid, the Cambodian Defenders Project and the Legal Aid of Cambodia [the web site http://www.lac.org.kh did not work at the time of this writing] were forced to restrict their expenditures after donors reduced their funding support…
"A senior lawyer of the Samrith Lawyers' Group, Mr. Ly Ping, said that his group is using a service pricing system with different levels, depending on the capacity of clients to pay. That means they can also offer services with no payment charged. While the Samrith Lawyers' Group receives also some funding support which is gladly received, they can gain income from their own work as the basis for their operations, in case no aid is provided…
"Mr. Ly Ping stressed, 'This is our commitment. We want to help. It is an obligation. It is a general feeling of human beings. And we make enough money.' He added that as for public interest activities, the Samrith Law Group handles also big cases which take a long time, maybe one year, to deal with one or two cases. Such work brings income through services such as consulting, research, and training for some of these private cases, and sometimes donors provide funds for some cases…
"Part of the reason leading to the creation of the Samrith Lawyers' Group were limitations they saw in the system that relies on the support for non-government organizations. The Cambodian Defenders Project and the Legal Aid of Cambodia were established specifically to offer legal aid and related services, but for some other non-government organizations, legal aid is just one part of what they do.
"But to establish the budget of the Samrith Lawyers' Group faces also obstacles. A major problem of the lawyers' group are disputes, that happen between personal interests, on which they depend, and public interests, that they want to serve. Since in big land dispute cases they may face the rich and the powerful, the lawyers' group has to ensure that they proceed carefully, to guarantee the further flow of personal cases to deal with, on which they depend.
"Mr. Ly Ping said, 'Therefore, our strategy which cases to select is very important. We try to accept moderate cases. Such cases are not too big.' According to the head of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, Mr. Ou Vireak, though the Samrith Lawyers' Group has accomplished some initial success, one needs to see whether they can use sustainable choices to replace existing, traditional practices or not.
"Mr. Ou Vireak said, 'It is too quick to say. I think that legal aid can help to a certain level, but the Samrith Lawyers' Group has not yet played an important role in legal aid. The real question is always the bigger picture: can they make a change to the court systems in Cambodia?'" Phnom Penh Post [Khmer Edition], Vol.1, #243, 24.8.2010
[The former and now fugitive Thai prime minister] Thaksin Resigned from the Position as an Advisor of the Royal Government of Cambodia, and Thailand Will Send Its Ambassador Back to Cambodia Today
More Than Ten Luxury Cars Transported Ebony Wood across the Svay Leu District; Forestry Administration Officers Said They Were Not Aware of That [Siem Reap]
More Than 200 Kilogram of Wild Animals [snakes, turtles, porcupines, and civets] Were Intercepted in Suong District [five people were held – Kompong Cham]
The Authorities Must Care about the Construction of Roads in Phnom Penh That Do Not Have Proper Culvert Systems to Drain Out the Rain Water That Floods the City When There Are Heavy Rains
A Sihanoukville Court Released a [police] Officer Who Raped an 11 Years-Old Girl [court officials could not be reached for comment on 23 August 2010]
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court Began to Construct a Five Stories Court Building
Names of Officials to Declare Their Assets Will Be Published [according to the head of the Anti-Corruption Unit, Mr. Om Yentieng]
Members of the Authorities [police] Suppressed Citizens Who Protested over Flooding, Resulting from the Boeng Kak Lake [sand filling] Development [they used shields and electric batons to disperse about 200 protesters who gathered in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen's residence in Phnom Penh]
[About 300] Amleang Commune Residents Blocked a Road to Protest over Land Disputes [with the sugar company owned by Oknha and Senator Ly Yong Phat – Kompong Speu]
[Prince] Ranariddh: To Merge FUNCINPEC and the Nationalist Party Will Result in the Loss of Positions [according to legislation about political parties, if two parties merge, the Ministry of Interior will delete the former parties' name from the list of registered parties]
The Samrith Law Group Offers Free Defense Services to Poor People and Reduces Dependence on Aid
Tax Officers Who Collect Excessive Amounts of Money from Road Tax Payments Face Dismissal [warned the head of the Anti-Corruption Unit, Mr. Om Yentieng]
There Are Only About 50 Hectares for Coffee Growing Left in Cambodia, and Coffee Growers Are Competing with Coffee from Laos and from Vietnam [before there were more than 500 hectares with coffee grown in Ratanakiri]