Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

The new Land Law will require between 11
and 18 sub-decrees to become effective. The
MoLM has begun drafting a sub-decree to create
a Cadastral Commission to replace the existing
land dispute resolution commissions, which have
been deemed ineffective because of their inability
to stand up to powerful figures. A consultation was
done recently with NGOs, who request that the
Cadastral Commission have a mixed composition
that includes lawyers and representatives from
civil society.
According to many NGOs (but not all), the
correct composition is very
important and is vital for
applying pressure to ensure
fair representation of civil
society. NGOs also argue that
from a legal standpoint it is
certainly possible to have a
government administrative
structure with a mixed board.
This is common in other
countries such as the U.S., and
there are no legal obstacles to
such a structure in Cambodia.
Some legal experts argue
that the Cadastral Commission
should not have a mixed
composition but should act
instead like a regular
government agency, and that
NGOs have not examined the
practicality of having a mixed
committee at the various
administrative layers. The commissions are slated
to have governors on them, but these commissions
will not have decision-making authority, as
decisions will be a matter of law. Civil society
organizations remain unconvinced, however, that
these powerful individuals - who are not elected
representatives and who are regularly cited as
being involved in current land disputes - can be
prevented from involvement in land dispute
resolution in the absence of deliberate pressure
mechanisms. The draft Cadastral Commission
sub-decree is in the advanced stage and should be
passed into law in the next few months, all the
more reason why NGO efforts should not be
allowed to flag.
The Asian Development Bank has contracted
a firm to conduct surveys in every district and draw
up maps. During the surveying the firm will
identify lot boundaries and interview residents.
The firm will then post survey findings for 30 days.
Any disputes are to be resolved at the local level
and there will be a systematic registration of
disputes. There will be an ongoing parallel system
of sporadic registration where people can apply
The effectiveness of the
new Land Law rests on the
quality of the dozen or so
sub-decrees that will be
drawn up by the MoLM. In
this respect, NGOs still
have considerable work to
do to ensure that the subdecrees
uphold the spirit of
the Land Law and protect
the interests of the most
vulnerable.
to have their land surveyed and the boundaries
established using the same procedures. NGOs
have an important role to play in educating
communities and ensuring that they receive
official information as outlined in the procedures.
Analyzing the Impact of Advocacy
Activities
Policy
The new Land Law is generally considered
to be a reasonable law and this is partly due to the
active role NGOs played in the
drafting process. NGOs were
able to achieve a number of
significant goals. For example,
they successfully advocated for
the collective rights of
highland people, against
concessions, and for a clear
delineation between private,
state, and private-state
property. They were also able
to obtain identification of who
could issue land titles.
The law recognizes
ownership rights for a fiveyear
period of possession.
Originally, lawmakers wanted
to include a provision that if
residents had lived on land for
two years before the law was
enacted and stayed for five
years on the property they
could take possession. This
condition has now been reduced from two years
to one day. In order to inform policy on small
social concessions, the Analyzing Development
Issues office (ADI) of the CCC conducted a short
study and subsequently made recommendations
as to how land should be distributed, who should
receive the land, and the need to have a support
program (development and infrastructure
activities) to assist people to obtain land titles.
The Land Law Working Group is lobbying the
World Bank to encourage the government to
conduct free registration of land titles. One of the
main obstacles for people to obtain the title of their
land is the cost of the registration.
The effectiveness of the new Land Law rests
on the quality of the dozen or so sub-decrees that
will be drawn up by the MoLM. In this respect,
NGOs still have considerable work to do to ensure
that the sub-decrees uphold the spirit of the Land
Law and protect the interests of the most
vulnerable.
Case Studies
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