A/HRC/33/62 organizations was adopted and came into force (see A/HRC/33/32, KHM 2/2015). Cambodia has a plethora of non-governmental organizations and civil society bodies, from local grass-roots organizations to national, regional and international entities. The flourishing of civil society has been regarded as a major success in post-transition Cambodia that has made an enormous contribution to the development of the country. Protecting fundamental freedoms is target 16.10 of the Sustainable Development Goals. 29. The law on associations and non-governmental organizations has laid down registration and re-registration requirements for organizations. While requirements of this type will help to regularize the situation of hundreds of organizations working in Cambodia, the authorities could potentially refuse registration or re-registration, with adverse implications for the organization concerned. The law in question is one of a series of recent laws that could be applied in a way that makes it more difficult for independent bodies to act on human rights issues. The law on the election of members of the National Assembly, adopted in 2014, criminalizes political campaigning and public opinion polling outside a defined campaigning period; the law on telecommunications adopted in 2015 requires telecommunications companies to turn over certain data to the Government upon request; while the law on trade unions of 2016 precludes individuals convicted of a crime from leading a trade unions; significantly, many independent trade unions are led by persons convicted on, or currently under threat of, charges relating to their work in defence of workers’ rights. A detailed analysis of each of these laws by OHCHR in Cambodia, nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, and others reveals the scope for infringing human rights. Like in the case of many laws, the degree of compliance with international human rights laws lies in the interpretation and application of the law by law enforcement and judicial officials. Clear implementation guidelines reflecting prevailing international human rights should be carefully drafted and disseminated in order to ensure that the law is applied in a manner that regulates without unnecessarily restricting the activities of civil society bodies, trade unions and human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government ensure that these laws are applied in a way that respects fully the human rights treaties that Cambodia has ratified. Moreover, the application of such laws should be regularly reviewed (and is already to an extent by civil society bodies) to permit timely revision, if required. 30. The Special Rapporteur received information on training activities, local-level meetings and informal discussions stopped by law enforcement officials or subjected to district or provincial approval not required by law. The law on peaceful demonstrations, which was cited as justification in many such situations, is subject to a set of guidelines – developed by the Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with OHCHR in Cambodia and a number of civil society organizations – to ensure compliance with applicable international standards. Unfortunately, the guidelines have not been sufficiently widely disseminated to achieve that result. It is essential that all local and provincial level authorities gain familiarity with the correct application of the law through the dissemination of the guidelines. 31. Freedom of expression is explicitly protected in article 41 of the Constitution of Cambodia (article 31 of which recognizes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). It was, until recently, a characteristic of Cambodian society, contributing to open debate and discussion. According to article 19, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, freedom of expression is subject to certain well-defined restrictions. In Cambodia, an ever wider range of laws are being used to impose restrictions, causing concern for a range of stakeholders, including human rights defenders, nongovernmental organizations and civil society. There have been communications from special procedures related to this (see for example A/HRC/32/53). Provisions of the Criminal Code that can restrict freedom of expression include articles 305 (defamation), 307 (public insult of members of the Government), 311 (malicious denunciation), 424 10