A/HRC/24/36 Special Rapporteur met during his mission to Cambodia in December 2012, were remedied on appeal. However, he regretted that some of the convictions remained in place, and new charges and convictions were introduced, with no opportunity for the accused to prepare his defence. 13. In addition, on 8 May 2013, the Special Rapporteur appealed to the Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction for disaggregated data by province on the implementation of Directive 01 on the Measures to Strengthen and Foster Effectiveness for the Management of ELCs (economic land concessions), including the number of hectares distributed for the purposes of private title, the location in which the titles had been issued and which private companies had been involved. He noted with appreciation the updated information placed on the website by province, and called for enhanced information related to the concessions subject to excision of land, and the role of the concessionaires. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur looks forward to further dialogue on how the ministry is addressing titling in disputed areas, including addressing petitions by villagers who have protested against their exclusion from the titling programme, or disagreement related to the measuring process during the 30-day period of public display. Preventing encroachment and ensuring the right to remedy remain of paramount concern to the Special Rapporteur. III. Follow-up to recommendations on the judiciary 14. The report of the Special Rapporteur to the fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council in 2010 focused on the judiciary (A/HRC/15/46). Three years on, the Special Rapporteur sought to assess the status of implementation of the recommendations contained in that report. 15. In terms of legal reform, the Special Rapporteur is pleased to note that the four main codes are now in place, namely the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure. Nonetheless, several other important pieces of legislation remain pending after many years. In particular, the three fundamental laws on the status of judges and prosecutors, on the organization of courts and the reform of the Supreme Council of Magistracy have still not been adopted. Nonetheless, he was encouraged by the assurance given to him that drafts of the three fundamental laws that were part of his key recommendations were almost ready and will be tabled before Parliament in the first half of 2014. 16. Overall, the situation of the judiciary in Cambodia has not fundamentally changed since 2010. Despite some progress, the pace of judicial reform remains very slow. The challenges are the same, namely lack of independence, problems of capacity, lack of resources, widespread corruption, all resulting in a lack of confidence by the general public in the ability of the court system to provide effective remedies when human rights violations do occur. 17. During his May 2013 mission, the Special Rapporteur was able to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Justice, representatives of the Bar Association and NGOs working in the legal and judicial sector. Despite several attempts, he regrets that he was not able to meet with any judge or prosecutor during his mission. 18. In order to protect the independence of judges and prosecutors, it is imperative that Cambodia adopt the three fundamental laws on the status of judges and prosecutors, on the organization and functioning of the courts, and on the reform of the Supreme Council of Magistracy. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to engage in full and meaningful consultations with all the relevant stakeholders before the adoption of these three laws and looks forward to their adoption in 2014. 7

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