Cambodia - Part J - Arbitration in Asia - 2nd Edition
Rupert Haw is a past Country Managing Director and a consultant of DFDL’s Lao PDR practice. He has outstanding experience in telecommunications, corporate finance and M&As in South East Asia and has strong credentials in regulatory and operational risk management in emerging markets. Mr. Haw also has sound experience in dispute resolution and has represented numerous firms in contentious proceedings in both the superior and lower courts. He also has a strong interest in private commercial arbitration.
Mr. Haw was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 1997 and holds a B. Proc. (University of Natal, South Africa). Previously, he was a Senior Manager of Big4 Forensic and Dispute Services department where he was responsible for managing a number of major investigations into fraud and corruption for the private sector and law enforcement agencies in both Africa and the United States.
Billie Jean Slott is currently an Assistant Professor of Law at American University of Phnom Penh and Director of Student Affairs. Formerly she was the Administrative Director of the Proasia Legal Solutions Office of Counsel to the firm of Sciaroni and Associates, located in Phnom Penh. Her areas of practice are litigation, arbitration, oil and gas, exploration and mining. She was appointed by the Minister of Commerce to serve as a Commissioner on the Selection and Inception Commission of the National Arbitration Center and is an advisor to the NCAC. She was lead Onshore Counsel for the Royal Government of Cambodia and Electricité du Cambodge in relation to a multi-million dollar international ICSID arbitration conducted at The Hague. She is a Founding Member of the Cambodian Association of Mining and Exploration Companies and a Member of the California bar. She has been practicing law in Southeast Asia for over twelve years.
Mealy Khieu is a Partner of SokSiphana&associates, a member of ZICOLaw. Ms. Khieu also covers litigation, arbitration, and commercial disputes and corporate concerns. She is the founding member of the National Commercial Arbitration Center (NCAC) and was elected as the first Executive Board member. In March 2019, she was elected as Vice President of NCAC. Her practice includes domestic and international investment advice, real estate commercial banking and intellectual property. She holds a dual Master, University Libre de Brussels (ULB) and fromi Royal University of Law and Economics in collaboration with the University of Montreal, University of Geneva and French Cooperation Center, Phnom Penh. She holds a Bachelor of Law, National Institute of Management and Royal University of Law and Economics, Phnom Penh and is a registered lawyer with the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia. She is also an authorized Trade Mark Agent recognized by the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia.
Linna Seangly is an Associate of Sok Siphana & Associates. She advises foreign and domestic investors on Cambodian commercial and construction arbitration cases and assists her supervisors in litigation- related proceedings. Ms. Seangly has extensive experience in conducting legal research and analysis, and in drafting relevant submissions in arbitration proceedings before the National Commercial Arbitration Centre of Cambodia (NCAC). She holds a dual degree in English Based Bachelor of Law and International Relations from the Royal University of Law and Economics. She was ranked among the top 5 students in her class and was selected to defend her thesis for the International Relations degree. She was a runner-up candidate in the Jessup Mock Moot Court Competition hosted by the Royal University of Law and Economics. She advanced to the semi-final round in the Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition organized by the National Commercial Arbitration Centre. She was also selected to represent her school in the Tun Suffian Moot Court Competition in Malaysia. She has successfully completed her Commercial Arbitration Skills Training Course organized by the National Commercial Arbitration Centre and is on her way to becoming a qualified registered arbitrator in Cambodia.
Originally from Arbitration in Asia - 2nd Edition
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Cambodia’s legal system currently is well developed compared to the last 40 years. However, and as background, from 1975 to 1979, when the country was known as Democratic Kampuchea and governed by the notorious Khmer Rouge regime, most legal texts and institutions were destroyed. The civil war that followed and which ended in 2001 substantially constrained any further development of Cambodian commercial law. The most notable commercial law to have been passed during that period was Decree No. 38 on Contract and Other Liabilities in 1988, otherwise known as the Contract Law. Since the end of the civil war numerous commercial laws have been enacted and Cambodia’s accession to the World Trade Organization ("WTO") in 2004 accelerated this process. In addition, with the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement in early 2023, wherein all members of the ASEAN Countries, plus five other countries, namely Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand, made Cambodia obliged to amend and adopt more Laws and Regulations to be in line with th regional legal developments.
The other notable items of legislation that were passed during that period and up to date are the Labour Law (1997) with many regulations to supplement this law, the Land Law (2001), the Law on Commercial Enterprises (2005), which was amended in January 2022), the Law on Commercial Arbitration (2006) (the “Arbitration Law”), Insolvency Law (2007), the Law on Secured Transaction (2007), the Code on Civil Procedure (2006) (the “Civil Procedure Code”), the Civil Code (2007), and the Law on Implementation of Civil Code in 2011, the Law on Unfair Competition, the Law on Consumer Protection 2019, the New Investment Law in 2023 and Sub-decree No. 139 on the Implementation of this new Investment Law dated June 26, 2023.
Arbitration as a means for the settlement of commercial disputes has been given remarkable recognition for its formal and binding decision in Cambodia. Many commercial disputes are voluntarily referred to local government officials who are called upon to determine the respective liabilities of the disputing parties. This can best be described as a customary procedure. Because of this it was expected that there would be broad-based recognition of the concept of voluntary, private dispute resolution. However, while in some sectors this is true, the courts of Cambodia are still relatively unfamiliar with the arbitration process. In 2014 the General Assembly of the National Commercial Arbitration Center of Kingdom of Cambodia (NCAC) elected an executive board of directors and adopted the "Internal Rules and Arbitration Rules." THowever, the NCAC services by taking into account the NCAC's experience in case administration and relatively recent development in international arbitration, as well as the prevailing international best practices. As of March 2023, the NCAC has registered Thirty-Eight (38) cases with a total disputed amount of about One Hundred Million US Dollars (US $ 100,000,000). The cases concerned the Banking and Finances, Corporate, Construction, Real Estate and Trade sectors. None of the relevant awards have been set aside or refused recognition and enforcement. Moreover, one of its awards was recognized by the High Court of Singapore. The majority of its awards are voluntarily implemented while a minority have been recognized and enforced by the competent courts, and some are pending a recognition procedure. The NCAC's arbitration clause is currently in many commercial contracts.
[1] INTRODUCTION
[2] LEGISLATION
[3] ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS
[4] THE ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL
[5] ARBITRAL PROCEDURES
[6] AWARDS
[7] JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE AND INTERVENTION
[8] RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN AWARDS
[9] PRACTICAL INFORMATION
[10] APPENDICES
[10.1] The Commercial Arbitration Law of the Kingdom of Cambodia, 2006