The limits to judicial independence
Cambodia’s political culture and the civil law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6252950 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lucy West (Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 537-553 |
| Publication date | 2019-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Democratization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13510347.2018.1553956 |
| OpenAlex | W2902419316 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 31 |
Distinctions between the common and civil law are crucial when considering the rule of law and judicial independence in a political system. The 1993 Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia provides for a democratic government with separation of powers, judicial independence and human rights guarantees consistent with international legal instruments. However, Cambodia ranks poorly in international indices of political interference and corruption in the judiciary and for the rule of law. Drawing on interviews with Cambodian state officials and legal practitioners, the article situates the domestic judiciary within the socio-political environment and constitutional arrangements in which it must operate and examines the limits to judicial independence in the country. The article argues that the lack of judicial independence in contemporary Cambodia is not only attributable to its neopatrimonial political culture but also to the legal-institutional framework established during the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) period. The legal-philosophical underpinnings of civil law, the nature of the civil law system operating in Cambodia, and how it is interpreted locally, are crucial to understanding the limits to judicial independence in the country
Civil law (Civil law · Constitution · Constitutional law · Democracy · Independence (probability theory · Judicial activism · Judicial Independence · Judicial review · Legal culture · Political science · Politics · Public law · Rule of law · Separation of powers · Sociology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Cambodian History and Society · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
International Democracy Assistance for Peacebuilding
The authority of lawEssays on law and morality
The Civil Law Tradition, 3rd Edition
The Common Law and Economic Growth
The authority of law
Politics and Constitutions in Southeast Asia
Judicial Independence
Colonization and the Rule of Law
Neopatrimonialism Reconsidered
Governance, democracy and development in the Third World
Public Support and Judicial Empowerment of the Philippine Supreme Court
Beyond Democracy in Cambodia
Democratic Experiments in Africa
Cambodia in 2010
Southeast Asia
The evolution of rule of law in Cambodia
Regimes and the Rule of Law
An Elementary Approach to the Rule of Law
Judicial Independence and Democratization
The Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Thin Rule of Law or Un-Rule of Law in Myanmar
Political Transition in Cambodia 1991-99
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |