Dissemination of handbooks on customary rules of indigenous people

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Phnom Penh: On Friday (26 March 2010), there will be a workshop to disseminate handbooks on customary rules of indigenous people is held tomorrow morning at Cambodiana Hotel.
Indigenous communities maintain their own traditional mechanisms, rules, and practices in solving a wide range of disputes and conflicts. However, such customary laws are not recognized by local government authorities and formal justice operators, which can result in the criminalisation of indigenous traditions and practices and threatens the rights and traditions of indigenous people.
For the first time, the handbooks contain detailed information gathered from four villages in Ratanakiri, and two villages in Mondulkiri, about the role of traditional authorities, the process of conflict resolution, the traditional rules in solving conflicts on different issues, and indigenous peoples’ cultural norms and traditions. The information is particularly important to legal practitioners working with indigenous communities and to lawmakers who draft laws and government policies so that they can take these different practices into consideration.
 The handbooks were produced as part of a larger initiative to examine how traditional systems could be recognised within the formal system and how two could function in a complementary way. They were jointly developed by the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Aid of Cambodia with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID).
Over 100 participants from traditional authorities, provincial, district, and commune authorities, NGOs, developments partners, as well as officials from the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Justice are expected to attend the event.