Cambodian Minister of the Interior, Sar Kheng has announced a crackdown on Public Servants in his Department who also practise law privately.
“Lawyers who hold Government posts have three months to decide which career they intend to pursue,” Mr Kheng (pictured) said.
“It is quite incompatible that they should be serving the public while also taking on private clients.”
He said the officials in question had to choose just one of their two professions.
“Should they opt to be an Interior Ministry official, they must change their Bar Association status to inactive or request to be deleted,” the Minister said.
“The Ministry will liaise with the Bar Association and all units at the national and sub-national level to corroborate the names of the affected officials.”
Mr Kheng said failure to make the choice would result in the officer being automatically deleted from the Public Service.
His actions were supported by the Bar Association, with Secretary-General, Liv Sovanna saying it was an important reminder to those who served as lawyers and public officials.
“If a lawyer wants to work at a Government institution, they must submit an application form to the Association, which would suspend the lawyer’s membership for the duration of their posting,” Mr Sovanna said.
“The Association publishes a list of practicing lawyers so the public can easily discover if someone has followed correct procedures and suspended their registration,” he said.
Phnom Penh, 8 March 2022
